108 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



of the earth, the dark ranks of trees, the gleam 

 of the cold sky, the glitter of the snow lying so 

 fluffily upon earth and tree and hill and house- 

 top. How calm and pure it seems ! How im- 

 pressive it is, too, under moonlight, with the 

 hills stretching far away in their white, heaving 

 mantle, the frozen woods standing up so darkly 

 along the night horizon, the stars glistening in 

 their violet depths, and over all the great si- 

 lence of the sky ! 



And what a multitude of sharp angles, harsh 

 forms, and bleak colors are hidden under the 

 muffling of snow ! The ragged mound, the 

 rough cornfield, the tumbled meadow, the bushy 

 foot-hills of the mountains are smoothed out, 

 and evened over, and cast in new forms. 

 Everywhere there are flowing, rounded lines 

 running hither and thither to meet other 

 lines, intertwining and uniting in graceful and 

 rhythmic combinations. In the open fields, 

 where the wind has been at work, the snow may 

 be cast in rolls, like the long swells of a smooth 

 sea ; and when the sun is low these swells show 

 pink light on their crests and blue shadows 

 in their hollows shadows even more delicate 

 and tender in hue than those cast upon water. 

 Above the open fields even the mountain-lines 



