Woodsy Impressions 



young deer under similar circumstances ; but when 

 it is over you understand it, and smile at finding 

 yourself becoming more and more like other natural 

 creatures, going softly, that is, making yourself 

 inconspicuous without trying or knowing how, and 

 having no thought of harm to any bird or beast, 

 but only of watching him or gauging his course 

 while remaining yourself unseen. Only by some 

 such method can you learn anything worth know- 

 ing about a wild animal: books describe, natural- 

 ists classify and sportsmen kill him ; but to under- 

 stand him you must be a sharer of his quiet ways. 



Comes another day, a day when you are in love 

 with solitude itself, when you learn with surprise 

 that a man is never lonely when alone in the woods ; 

 that ideals may be quite as companionable as 

 folks; and that around you in a goodly company 

 are beauty, peace, spacious freedom and har- 

 monious thoughts, with a hint also, to some minds, 

 of angels and ministers of grace. The Attendant 

 Spirit of "Comus," the Ariel of "The Tempest," 

 the good fairies of all folk, these are never under- 

 stood in the town, nor in the woods unless you 

 enter them alone. 



At a later time, and with a thrill of great wonder, 

 you may discover the meaning of silence, and of 

 the ancient myth of a lovely goddess of silence; 

 not the dead silence of a dungeon, which may roar 



[249! 



