vii. THE SWALLOW'S NEST. I2I 



earnest that it shall yet embrace all nature. It has 

 more and other beauty than the mere grace of its form 

 and the glossy sheen of its plumage. All the past sum- 

 mers of life have shed their halo around it. To the 

 careworn mind there is childhood in every twitter of 

 its little throat, and in every flash of its purple wing. It 

 is full of our own human heart. The reappearance 

 every season of this little prophet of the year awakens all 

 the glad instincts that slumber even in the coldest 

 nature. It is associated with long days full of light and 

 soft air and dreamy beauty, in which every one is in- 

 clined to imitate the example of the little child who 

 woke at earliest dawn and begged to be dressed quickly, 

 saying, " I must get up early there is so much to do 

 to-day; there are so many flowers to be plucked." 

 This fairy Ariel, who is chasing summer for ever round 

 the world, brings with it thoughts of far-off climes, which 

 the imagination clothes with ideal charms, filling the 

 heart with a wistful yearning, a longing for wings to flee 

 away and be at rest It has no connection with winter 

 gloom or autumn decay, but comes when earth is fairest 

 and human life is brightest. It is impossible to watch 

 the movements of the active, joyous creature without 

 feeling some sentiment of love towards it. The eye is 

 fascinated, and so is the heart, by its wonderful grace 

 and velocity as it wheels its ceaseless and untiring flight 

 from sunrise to sunset. If one swallow does not make 

 a summer, we certainly cannot imagine a summer with- 

 out this winged seraph, that brings into our northern clime 

 a glimpse of the glory and mystery of regions unknown. 



