XXXV. 



THE FALL OF THPZ LEAF, 



The two most interesting periods to one who is in 

 the habit of associating some agreeable sentiment with 

 the phases of nature, occur when the ti-ees are putting 

 forth their tender leaves and flowers in the opening of 

 the year, and when they are assuming the variegated ■ 

 hues that precede the fall of the leaf Hence the spring 

 and the autumn have always been regarded as pre- 

 eminently the two poetical seasons — the one emblem- 

 izing the period of youth, the other that of old age. 

 But to the eye of the painter as well as the poet do 

 these two seasons offer the greatest attractions. In the 

 spring, while the leaves are bursting from their hiberna- 

 cles, and unfolding their plaited forms, they exhibit a 

 great variety of tints, which are constantly changing 

 with the progress of their development. In autumn, 

 during a space of about two weeks, they pass through 

 another succession of hues ; and this change, connected 

 with the fall of the leaf, has given rise to many pleas- 

 ing sentiments, which have been woven into the poetry 

 of all nations. It is a common fallacy to regard those 

 objects as the most picturesque which have the least 

 positive beauty ; but landscape-painters, actuated by a 



