An Early Spring Walk 



It was a part of the natural exhilaration 

 of all life at the return of the spring. I 

 feel it distinctly every season this rejuve- 

 nation and re-enforcement of all my vital 

 powers and functions. It is as pronounced 

 with me as with the plants and the trees; 

 a flooding upward and outward to the very 

 finger tips and pores of the scalp of the sap 

 of life; a vernal flood tide of health and 

 energy and hope and delight in existence. 

 All animals, I think, feel it more or less, 

 and all men in proportion as they share 

 the life of nature and are in sympathy and 

 communion with her. Farmers, hunters, 

 boatmen, explorers, surveyors, ramblers 

 these out-of-door men know what is meant 

 by the exaltation and exhilaration of the 

 spring. They have all felt this rushing ver- 

 nal sap in their veins, and that transporting 

 thrill, which seems to exude at last in a fine 

 spray from every extremity. Even up to 

 old age such men renew their boyhood every 

 spring. Their hearts swell within them ; 

 their muscles grow elastic and tireless, so 

 that they seem to walk on air; their bodies 

 glow and palpitate, and their spirits respond 

 to all bird songs and brook music. It is 



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