THE SOUL OF NATURE 165 



lightning. And what analogies there are 

 between nature and man's work and ex- 

 perience: illusion, elusion, suffering qual- 

 ities that make art. Men overdo before 

 they learn to do; nature teaches reserve, 

 order, accomplishment, economy. Have 

 you thought how nature fits herself to every 

 human mood that is, how the mind dis- 

 covers answering moods in nature as 

 well as sustains us in every corporal need ? 

 All seems open for our view into the heart 

 of the world ; but, as we look, a spell is 

 thrown over us, and the green brightens 

 with Turner's gold or pales into Corot's 

 mist of silver; or in the hills, and oftener in 

 the desert, on a few lucky days of a life, 

 rise towers of gold and crystal gemmed 

 with sapphire and topaz and backed by 

 peaks of opal. Our hard and searching 

 glance is baffled by these splendors. The 

 kindly sun, the free wind, balm-laden, the 

 grateful color, the tinkle of brooks, the lilt 

 and whistle of birds, the toss and sough of 

 boughs, the spring of turf, the beat of waves, 

 placate, yet encourage and rejoice, and 

 create or fill our worthiest moods. We 



