XXVIII Life in Autumn Storm 



THE wet leaf dropping in the autumn thicket is a 

 signal of the turning seasons that is always full 

 of promise, and brings new hope to the cloudiest 

 year. In years when the passage of a cheerless 

 summer leaves few regrets, there is a double attrac- 

 tion in watching the earth's redemption of its out- 

 worn verdure, and the steady reabsorption of 

 falling leaves and dying herbage into the material 

 of harvests to come. Before our eyes the waste of 

 the bygone summer is repaired, and the foliage of 

 a new June made ready by the dissolving vapours 

 and rain ; for the dampness of the English autumn 

 is one great cause of the deep verdure of the English 

 spring. Even by the New Year, the winter damps 

 and the worms that thrive in moist soil have so far 

 done their work that of the innumerable leaves 

 which drive on the autumn winds almost all are 

 matted into smooth drifts and layers, and already 

 merging into decay. The increasing light of 

 January sees the woodlands orderly and at rest. 

 When the spring growth stirs in the soil it finds the 

 earth's store fully replenished for its nurture ; and 

 the shooting verdure is but little encumbered by 

 the refuse of older seasons, which in drier climates 

 remains to blemish spring. Above all, the green 

 turf, which is nature's most distinctive gift to these 



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