( 116) 



God? Are Ihe objects of nature, trees , flowers , 

 clouds, perfumes , light , winds , the emblems of 

 which man seeks the explanation , after having lost 

 it? And must he not discover that explanation in 

 speech , that endless révélation, that eternal chain, 

 the countless links of which attached to each olher 

 form indestructible traditions? Hâve the confused 

 voices of the valley , of the forest , of the waters , 

 the buzzing of the insect , the cries and warblings 

 of the birds , a unanimous sentiment of prayer 

 and sighs? Is there a universal harmony of which 

 man can feel ail the accords , guess ail the law-s? 

 The instincts of my lyre , like unto Ihe snowy 

 wings of the dove , raised me far above the earth, 

 and held me floating in the upper régions where 

 the body cannot go. But my soûl , ravished for an 

 instant, soon returned to its sublunary prison. One 

 day during my voyage , in the high régions of the 

 mind, methought l saw an immense light encom- 

 passing ail nature , and splendidly enlightening ail 

 things. My sight was not rapid enough , neither 

 ■were my thoughts , to be every vvhere in one in- 

 divisible moment. I neverlheless had a real feeling 

 of the essence and unity of ail that exists. I then 

 heard a sound , but an intellectual sound , and that 

 Sound seemed as the speech of light and I ques- 

 lioned myself , and speech answered within me. 

 I cannot say the end nor the form of such a mys- 

 terious conférence ; but ail is remained in the bot- 

 tom of my soûl , as the fire remains in the veins 

 of the flint till the moment a shock makes it sparkle 



