The Nuptial Flight 



them the sky is magnificent ; and one 

 almost might fancy that beneficent spirits, 

 waving palm-trees of fire, had swept all 

 the light towards the stack, to give the 

 workers more time. And the track of 

 the palms still remains in the sky. See 

 the humble church by their side, over- 

 looking and watching them, in the midst 

 of the rounded lime trees and the grass of 

 the homely graveyard, that faces its native 

 ocean. They are fitly erecting their mon- 

 ument of life underneath the monuments 

 of their dead, who made the same gestures 

 and still are with them. Take in the 

 whole picture. There are no special, 

 characteristic features, such as we find in 

 England, Provence, or Holland. It is 

 the presentment, large and ordinary 

 enough to be symbolic, of a natural and 

 happy life. Observe how rhythmic 

 human existence becomes in its useful 

 moments. Look at the man who is 

 33 1 



