280 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



in the hedge. Gradually entering into the 

 intense life of the summer days a life which 

 burned around as if every grass-blade and leaf 

 were a torch I came to feel the long-drawn 

 life of the earth back into the dimmest past, 

 while the sun of the moment was warm on me. 

 . . . This sunlight linked me through the 

 ages to that past consciousness." 



Again, he says that, wandering alone, he 

 spoke in his soul to the earth, the sun, the air, 

 and the distant sea far beyond sight : 



" I thought of the earth's firmness I felt 

 it bear me up ; through the grassy couch there 

 came an influence as if I could feel the great 

 earth speaking to me. I thought of the wan- 

 dering air its pureness, which is its beauty ; 

 the air touched me and gave me something 

 of itself. I spoke to the sea, though so far, 

 in my mind I saw it, green at the rim of the 

 earth and blue in deeper ocean ; I desired to 

 have its strength, its mystery and glory." 



Everything is so full of life, everything 

 around him, the grass-blades, the flowers, the 



