A Bouquet of Song Birds 



from every thought and object forming its set- 

 ting and perspective (if such a thing were pos- 

 sible), rooted or suspended in meaningless void 

 space, and its charm would often be immeasur- 

 ably diminished. A universal communism en- 

 chances the effect of one element of Nature by 

 another. Even the dank soil, and the refuse of 

 decaying leaves that pollute the ground through- 

 out the woods in spring, through which the 

 earliest blossoms push themselves, give to the 

 hepatica a livelier purple, to the ' ' spring beauty ' ' 

 a daintier pink, to the anemone a purer white. 

 The gloomy skies and rasping atmosphere of 

 March add lustre to the robin's breast and to 

 the bluebird's back, and the roaring winds im- 

 part to them their most enchanting delicacy of 

 song. It is summer's intolerable heat and glare 

 that create the heavenly shade and coolness of 

 the woodland path, and the refreshment of the 

 babbling brook. The waters are made glorious 

 at night by shattered and shivered rays that 

 dance upon the moonlight path across the lake, 

 and the paroxysm of a wintry storm without 

 creates a marvellous content within. 



When one seeks the acquaintance of some 

 notable personage, he is often aiming, not sim- 

 ply at the advantage that will accrue from such 



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