CHAPTER XVII 

 LANDSCAPE LINES AND GARDENING 



THERE are certain lines or a composition of lines 

 in Nature which have a definite effect on the spirit 

 of, Man, induce a definite mood, and, recognizing 

 this Man has often made use of them in his archi- 

 tectural structures. There is, for instance, a pro- 

 nounced difference between the spiritual effect of a 

 vertical and a horizontal line, when they are stressed 

 sufficiently to dominate the scene or the structure. The 

 long horizontal is a symbol of peace, the soaring vertical 

 of aspiration. It is easy to see why this should be so, 

 the one remaining plodding and pedestrian on the com- 

 fortable level, the other leaving the ground and making 

 for the stars. 



Nothing is more peaceful, more soothing to the spirit, 

 than a canal. Brimming and level, without flow or 

 current, it lays its watery highway through the flat 

 fields, and life would seem leisurely as you strolled be- 

 side it even if you were unaware that traffic is actually 

 leisurely upon its bosom. A canal is the apotheosis of 

 the horizontal, the trees which march by its bank falling 

 into misty green procession like a line of level housetops, 



264 



