INTRODUCTION 



So universal is Nature, so subtle her elusive 

 beauty, that only one with a heart open to the 

 immensity of things and the soul of a poet, could 

 perceive and feel the charm and influence of 

 Nature about mighty London. " The strong life 

 of the vast city magnetised me, and I felt it under 

 the calm oaks." " I am quite as familiar with 

 London as with the country," he wrote to a cor- 

 respondent. " Some people have the idea that my 

 knowledge is confined to the fields ; as a matter of 

 fact, I have had quite as much to do with London 

 all parts of it, too and am very fond of what 

 I may call a thickness of the people such as exists 

 there. I like the solitude of the hills, and the hum 

 of the most crowded city ; I dislike little towns and 

 villages. I dream in London quite as much as in 

 the woodlands. It's a wonderful place to dream in." 

 And London, sordid, noisy, jarring, had hints of 

 great beauty that his soul could follow. At night 

 the stars were there : " I never forget them, not 

 even in the restless Strand ; they face one coming 

 down the hill of the Haymarket ; in Trafalgar 

 Square, looking towards the high dark structure of 

 the House of Westminster, the clear bright steel 

 silver of the planet Jupiter shines unwearied, with- 

 out sparkle or flicker." 



London produces its own sky, he says, and he 

 thought this sky could best be studied from the great 



