118 BIRDS AND POETS 



She chews the cud of sweetest revery 

 Above your worldly prattle, brooklet merry, 

 Oblivious of all things sublunary." 



The cow figures in Grecian mythology, and in 

 the Oriental literature is treated as a sacred animal. 

 "The clouds are cows and the rain milk." I re- 

 member what Herodotus says of the Egyptians' 

 worship of heifers and steers; and in the traditions 

 of the Celtic nations the cow is regarded as a divin- 

 ity. In Norse mythology the milk of the cow And- 

 humhla afforded nourishment to the Frost giants, 

 and it was she that licked into being and into shape 

 a god, the father of Odin. If anything could lick 

 a god into shape, certainly the cow could do it. 

 You may see her perform this office for young 

 Taurus any spring. She licks him out of the fogs 

 and bewilderments and uncertainties in which he 

 finds himself on first landing upon these shores, and 

 up on to his feet in an incredibly short time. In- 

 deed, that potent tongue of hers can almost make 

 the dead alive any day, and the creative lick of the 

 old Scandinavian mother cow is only a large-lettered 

 rendering of the commonest facts. 



The horse belongs to the fiery god Mars. He 

 favors war, and is one of its oldest, most available, 

 and most formidable engines. The steed is clothed 

 with thunder, and smells the battle from afar; but 

 the cattle upon a thousand hills denote that peace 

 and plenty bear sway in the land. The neighing of 

 the horse is a call to battle; but the lowing of old 

 Brockleface in the valley brings the golden age 



