An Early Spring Walk 



swelling into an irregular, vibrant chorus, 

 my heart tastes again, for a little while, the 

 unnamable ecstasy of childhood, and I can 

 believe that I am standing once more on the 

 morning threshold of the world. 



Every sight and sound and odor of the 

 early spring seems to possess a peculiar 

 significance and charm, such as is revealed 

 to the lover of nature at no other season of 

 the year. All reports of the senses teem 

 with freshness, newness, pungency, promise. 



" The year 's at the spring," 



sings Browning; and in that single line he 

 conveys an almost overwhelming sense of 

 the fullness of life, hope, joy, energy, cour- 

 age, determination. Just as there is one day 

 in every month when the sea floods up irre- 

 sistibly and touches its highest tide-mark, so 

 there is one month in the year when the life 

 of nature climbs to its maximum, and thrills 

 the whole world with a sense of vital reple- 

 tion and power. April is the month of all 

 months to go rambling, for one's health of 

 body and mind, because it is then we may 

 embark upon that mysterious flood-tide of 

 reviving nature, and share the exaltation 

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