WRIT IN WATER 



themselves a mirror for the heavens, still all 

 unconscious of the give-and-take which may 

 make them famous. Avon and Grasmere 

 are not merely the bodies of water which 

 bear those names, but are forever haloed by 

 their association with the greatness which 

 they helped to foster. In like manner, 

 Walden is Walden plus its associations with 

 Thoreau, as Thoreau is Thoreau plus his 

 associations with Walden and several other 

 things, material and immaterial. In a still 

 greater degree the rivers and lakes of the 

 Holy Land have acquired a spiritual dis- 

 tinction which no body of water in secular 

 lands may claim. Only mention the "Sea 

 of Galilee" to a devout Christian, and you 

 have tuned all his meditations to the pitch 

 of reverence. A good illustration of this 

 effect is given by Whittier in his poem on 

 Palestine : 



"Blue sea of the hills, in my spirit I hear 

 Thy waters, Gennesaret, chime on my ear 

 Where the Lowly and Just with the people sat down 

 And the spray on the dust of His sandals was 

 thrown." 



19 



