FEBRUARY 



I frequently see three or four old white birches 

 standing together on the edge of a pond or mea- 

 dow,' and am struck by the pleasing manner in 

 which they will commonly be grouped, how they 

 spread so as to make room for each other, and 

 make an agreeable impression upon the eye. 



THOKEAU: Winter. 



The tints of the sunset sky are never purer and 

 more ethereal than in the coldest winter days. 

 This evening, though the colors are not brilliant, 

 the sky is crystalline, and the pale fawn-tinged 

 clouds are very beautiful. 



THOKEAU: Winter. 



However, when you do get a crust that will bear, 

 and know any brooklet that runs down a hillside, 

 be sure to go and take a look at him, especially 

 if your crust is due, as it commonly is, to a cold 

 snap following eagerly on a thaw. You will never 

 find him so cheerful. As he shrank away after the 

 last thaw he built for himself the most exquisite 

 caverns of ice to run through, if not " measureless 

 to man " like those of Alph, the sacred river, yet 

 perhaps more pleasing for their narrowness than 

 those for their grandeur. 



LOWELL: A Good Word for Winter. 



