HARMONIES OF THE TEMPERATE ZONE. 209 
I have lived in climates where the olive and the orange preserve 
an eternal bloom. Without ignoring the beauty of these favoured 
trees, and their special distinction, I could never accustom myself to 
the monotonous permanency of their unchangeable garb, whose ver- 
dure responded to the heaven’s unchangeable sapphire. I was ever in 
a state of expectancy, waiting for a renewal which never came. The 
days passed by, but were always identical. Not a leaf the less on 
the ground, not a cloudlet in the sky. Mercy, I exclaimed, O ever- 
lasting Nature! To the changeful heart which thou hast given me, 
grant a little change. Rain, mire, storm, I accept them all; so that 
from sky or earth the idea of movement may return to me—the idea 
of renovation; that every year the spectacle of a new creation may 
refresh my heart, may restore to me the hope that my soul shall 
enjoy a similar resurrection, and, by the alternations of sleep, of death, 
or of winter, create for itself a new spring ! 
Man, bird, all nature, utter the same desire. We exist through 
change. 
To these forcible alternations of heat, cold, fog, and sun, melan- 
14 
