164 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



wild ! that I could put myself into a true 

 relation with nature, and be on friendly 

 terms with all congenial elements ! " How 

 many have echoed such a wish, for the 

 mystery of the world is on the hills, and a 

 subtle friendship broods in the wood. At 

 times the mystery seems about to be re- 

 vealed to us ; yet, though we look and lis- 

 ten, the sphinx lips are closed, and we cry : 

 " Let us know this secret." 



Still we must not peer too closely, nor 

 lose the larger view of things. Men are 

 great, generous, beautiful only in their 

 obvious aspects ; so let us heed our books, 

 songs, pictures, cathedrals, and other works 

 of our kind. Must we know the chemistry 

 of soils and leaves to see heaven on earth ? 



We have come to that time when we 

 begin to feel as well as to see in the pres- 

 ence of woods, hills, oceans, and stars ; 

 there are hints and portents in them that 

 a new consciousness tries to read. There 

 is an invitation to conquest that makes us 

 delight in peril and seek it in the deeps 

 and on the alps. If eased of our flesh, 

 we would ride on the storm and bathe in 



