Song Birds and Water Fowl 



the lapse of many years, spent in the peace- 

 ful labors of the farm, when once he hears that 

 old familiar martial strain, which recalls the 

 tumult of the battle, feels the old tingle in 

 his blood, becomes impetuous as of yore, and 

 dashes off in answer to the call. And certainly, 

 if one can be profoundly moved by the resist- 

 less power the ocean manifests upon a balmy 

 summer's day, what an added sweep of majesty 

 he will find in winter, when the blackened, 

 white-tipped waves are hurled upon the frozen 

 beach, and break against the ice-girt rocks ! 

 At such a time the savage monster looks fasci- 

 natingly merciless ; and while it has the ser- 

 pent's charm, repellent in its snaky winsome- 

 ness, it kindles all one's admiration by its 

 spirit of immensity and unconquerableness — a 

 grandeur that is royal and sublime above all 

 other potencies in nature. Old ocean, envel- 

 oping the earth in prehistoric times, was a 

 magnificent premonition of the forthcoming 

 restless tide of human life, mankind's broad 

 shadow, cast before, the formless spirit of hu- 

 manity in embryo. And, through all time, it 

 shows itself the boundless reflex of a mighty 

 soul in every phase and hue of its emotion, as 

 though the speechless depths of Nature's heart 

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