My First Summer 



striking, bright green, fluent, down-sweep- 

 ing flowery ribbons on gray slopes. The 

 broad shallow streams these meadows be- 

 long to are mostly derived from banks of 

 snow and because the soil is well drained 

 in some places, while in others the dam 

 rocks are packed close and caulked with 

 bits of wood and leaves, making boggy 

 patches; the vegetation, of course, is cor- 

 respondingly varied. I saw patches of wil- 

 low, bryanthus, and a fine show of lilies 

 on some of them, not forming a margin, 

 but scattered about among the carex and 

 grass. Most of these meadows are now in 

 their prime. How wonderful must be the 

 temper of the elastic leaves of grasses and 

 sedges to make curves so perfect and fine, 

 Tempered a little harder, they would stand 

 erect, stiff" and bristly, like strips of metal ; 

 a little softer, and every leaf would lie flat, 

 And what fine painting and tinting there 

 is on the glumes and pales, stamens and 

 feathery pistils. Butterflies colored like the 

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