Effect at Sunset. 51 



two black bullace trees, which are more forward to 

 keep in line with the willows, and which occasionally 

 bear fruit in their season, and attract many birds; 

 while on the upper or western end it is almost closed 

 in by three giant forms of oaks, and one magnificent 

 blackthorn, in later spring hoary and heavy with 

 blossoms. A picnic might be held in the branches 

 of that lordly old oak in the middle of the greeny 

 crescent, and indeed has been ; for if you walk round 

 there you may see still the remnants of the circle of 

 seats placed just above where the branches spring 

 from the bole, and would accommodate a tolerable tea- 

 party were they restored and a tea-table set in the 

 centre, as it well might be. 



The effect at sunset is sometimes very fine. Often 

 have I stood, rod in hand, in dreamy admiration of the 

 wondrous mixture of gold and green that inevitably 

 suggested thoughts — nOt all irreverent — of a burning 

 bush, and, momentarily oblivious of the bobbings of 

 my float, have had to mourn the loss of what seemed 

 finer and heavier fish than I ever landed there, and to 

 reproach or congratulate myself accordingly. But it is 

 a weakness of fishermen thus unconsciously to moralise 

 life by a parable of the contrast between wishes and 

 realities. The fish that were lost ever excelled the fish 

 that were caught. But the glory of the sight scarce 

 admitted such reflections then. In quivering bars the 

 foliage seemed turned to gold, and burned as it danced 

 in the brilliance, if a faint wind were stirring ; while 

 beneath the trees lay soft fair shadows of themselves, 

 yet clear and bold in outline, with all the glory of eve 

 about them, and suggesting a wondrous depth ; and in 

 the middle space, nearer to me, the golden rays that 

 stole through the higher leaves flickered and fell, and 



