VIII. 



IN LEAFLESS WOODS. 



YES : these bare boughs, I take it, are not 

 all pure loss. They have their consolations ; 

 they have their artistic and intellectual value. 

 They show us, after all, the true inwardness 

 of the tree ; they enable us to realize, as 

 none could otherwise do, the infinite diversity 

 of architecture and ground-plan in the design 

 and execution of the forest denizens. While 

 dense masses of foliage clothe and obscure 

 the boughs with their gay greenery we can 

 gain but a rough idea of the underlying 

 structure. But just as a Leonardo or a 

 Luca Signorelli must needs pry beneath skin 

 and muscle to discover the actual framework 

 and bony supports of the body, so the lover 



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