The Natural Style in Landscape Gardening 



good women have made to the appeals of the land- 

 scape spirit. 



For about two generations the painters, like the 

 poets, have dealt honestly with the landscape, en- 

 deavoring to get from it the truth of nature rather 

 than trying to fix upon it their preconceived super- 

 stitions. It hardly needs to be said that every na- 

 ture painter is trying to do more than to record 

 the mere physical features of the landscape. Every 

 one of them is trying, with all the power there is 

 in him, to offer us also a spiritual message. It is, 

 therefore, greatly worth our while, as lovers of the 

 landscape, as believers in spiritual things, and as 

 would-be landscape architects, to see what the paint- 

 ers have to offer. 



After a good many years of study and teach- 

 ing, however, I am inclined to believe that music 

 offers the readiest approach to a spiritual inter- 

 pretation of the landscape. Music has so slight a 

 physical body that very few persons are troubled 

 by it. Even the stupidest publican understands 

 that music is addressed straight to his spirit. If he 

 gets anything from it it must be some emotional 



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