SOUNDS FROM INANIMATE NATURE. 23 



more cheerful sound, corresponding with the gayety of 

 summer, and harmonizing with the 'more lively scenes 

 around them. Every tree and shrub is a delicate 

 musical instrument, whose notes remind us of the char- 

 acter of their foliage, and of the season of the year, — 

 from the mellow harmony of the willow trees in sum- 

 mer, to the sharp rustling of the dry oak leaf that tells 

 us of the arrival of winter. 



Each season of the year has its peculiar melodies, 

 besides those proceeding from the animated creation. 

 In the opening of the year, when the leaves are tender 

 and pliable, there is a mellowness in the sound of the 

 breezes, as if they felt the voluptuous influence of spring. 

 Nature then softens all the sounds from inanimate 

 things, as if to avoid making any harsh discords with 

 the anthem that issues from the streams and wood- 

 lands, vocal with the songs of millions .of happy crea- 

 tures. The echoes also repeat less distinctly the multi- 

 tudinous notes of birds, insects, and other creeping 

 things. To the echoes, spring and summer are seasons 

 of comparative rest, save those which reside among 

 the rocks of the desert, or among the dells of the craggy 

 sea-shore. Here, sitting invisibly in their retreats, are 

 they ever responding to those sorrowful sounds that are 

 borne upon the waves, as they sullenly recount the perils 

 and accidents of the great deep. 



After the severe frosts of autumn, the winds become 

 shriller, as they pass over the naked reeds and rushes, 

 and through the leafless branches of the trees, and there 

 is a familiar sadness in their murmurs, as they whirl 

 among the dry rustling leaves. When winter has 

 arrived and enshrouded all the landscape in a winding- 

 sheet of snow, the echoes once more venture out upon 

 the open plain, and repeat, with unusual distinctness. 



