12 With Feet to the Earth 



or whisper and snicker as you pass, you 

 may prolong your tramp into the starlight 

 and moonlight time. I have climbed hills 

 at midnight, in the snow, and the glory of 

 heaven rested on the earth and did not 

 wake it. For nature really sleeps at night, 

 as man, her offspring, does. The regular 

 motion of the wind is her breath. To be 

 awake is strange. The pranks of cities are 

 out of place in the country after sunset, 

 and it is there and then one is thrown 

 upon himself; then he must decide whether 

 stars and frogs are good or evil company ; 

 for the man who runs away from town to 

 escape himself finds himself when he 

 reaches the woods. He will gain on a hill- 

 top a power of soul-sight to look down on 

 the plain of life and trace the paths it is 

 well for men to tread, or his attention will 

 be taken with the cold and the briers. He 

 will grope about the roots of trees, finding 

 them made to fall over, or he will hear 

 symphonies among their leaves, and calls 

 to climb, to toss in their leafy hammocks, 

 to dream epics. 



We but half desert our species when we 



