ASPECTS OF THE VALLEY 51 



ness. For nearly an hour we rode with this vision 

 of glory always before ns; grove after grove of 

 leafless black-barked willow-trees on our right 

 hand, and gray thorny hill after hill on our left, 

 did we pass in our swift ride, while great flocks of 

 upland geese continually rose up before us, with 

 shrill whistlings mingled with solemn deep dron- 

 ing cries; and the arch of watery fire still lived, 

 now fading as the flying wrack grew thinner and 

 thinner, then, just when it seemed about to vanish, 

 brightening once more to a new and more won- 

 derful splendor, its arch ever widening to greater 

 proportions as the sun sunk lower in the sky. 



I do not suppose that the colors were really 

 more vivid than in numberless other rainbows I 

 have seen ; it was, I think, the universal grayness 

 of earth and heaven in that gray winter season, 

 in a region where color is so sparsely used by 

 Nature, that made it seem so supremely beautiful, 

 so that the sight of it affected us like wine. 



The eyes, says Bacon, are ever most pleased 

 with a lively embroidery on a sad and somber 

 ground. This was taught to us by the green and 

 violent arch on the slaty gray vapor. But Nature 

 is too wise 



To blunt the fine point of seldom pleasure. 



The day of supernatural splendor and glory 

 comes only after many days that are only natural, 

 and of a neutral color. It is watched and waited 



