FEBRUARY. 449 



charms than during the seasons of vegetation and flowers. 

 A long deprivation of any kind of pleasure increases our 

 susceptibility and magnifies our capacity for enjoyment. 

 Thus we may become indifferent to the warbling of birds 

 in the summer, while we are forming a habit which, after 

 the long silence of the wintry woods, shall cause the mel- 

 odies of spring to yield us the greatest delight. After 

 the confinement of winter we are keenly alive to agree- 

 able impressions from all rural sights and sounds. Then 

 does the sight of a green arbor in the woods or a green 

 plat in a valley affect us as I can imagine a weary travel- 

 ler to be affected on suddenly meeting an oasis in a desert. 

 The melancholy that attends a ramble in the autumn has 

 passed from us, and we now come forth, during the sleep 

 of vegetation and in the general hush of animated things, 

 with some of the gladness that inspires the mind when 

 the little song-sparrow first sings his prelude to the gen- 

 eral anthem of Nature. Some blessing comes from every 

 sacrifice, and some recompense for every privation. Thus 

 the darkness of night prepares us to welcome with glad- 

 ness the dawn of a new morning. The charm of life 

 springs from its vicissitudes, and we are capable of no 

 new enjoyment until we have rested from pleasure. 



When the earth is covered with snow that has grown 

 hard enough to bear our footsteps without sinking into 

 the drifts, I have often taken advantage of one of the 

 serene days of winter to ramble in the woods. Every 

 pleasant rural object I then behold affords me as much 

 pleasure as I should derive in summer from all the 

 charms of landscape united in one view. The snow lies 

 in scattered parcels over the earth, that serves to variegate 

 the scene and to render it more pleasing to the sight than 

 the dull monotonous brown which the landscape wears at 

 this season, when there is no snow. 



Every sound I hear in the woods at such a time is 



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