20 The Changeful Skies 



" skyey influences" are more potent than we 

 think. I do not mean such influence as that 

 which leads to glancing upward in the morn- 

 ing, and, in the fulness of our conceit, con- 

 tradicting the barometer. There are men 

 who do this, get caught in the rain, and, de- 

 nying it the next day, prove themselves not 

 only fools, but worse. Thoreau encoun- 

 tered such folk even in Concord, and thought 

 they poisoned their immediate atmosphere. 



In going out of doors, it is a little strange 

 that that which is most prominent is likely 

 to be least noticed. The truth is, the sky, 

 which is but a name for an appearance, is 

 nevertheless the most obvious of fa&s. If 

 not palpable as the earth beneath, it makes 

 itself felt, which is much the same thing so 

 far as the rambler is concerned ; and certainly 

 much is lost if we fail to respond to skyey 

 influences. 



We think little about the sky, can roam 

 for hours beneath it without looking up ; and 

 yet it is the most assertive object in the out- 

 look : poets have applied to it more adjec- 

 tives than to any objecl: beneath. They 

 descant on " the witchery of the soft blue 

 sky," but what of the heartlessness of the 



