Look! under thai broad beech-tree I sat down 

 l»hen I r»as last this ipap a- fishing; and the birds in 

 the adjoining grove seemed to have a friendly 

 contention Tvith an echo, whose dead voice seemed 

 to live in a hollow tree near to the brow of that 

 primrose hill. There I sat viewing the silver streams 

 glide silently toward their center, the tempestuous 

 sea; y^et sometimes opposed b}) rugged roots 

 and pebble-stones, which broke their waves, and 

 turned them into foam; and sometimes I beguiled 

 the time b^ viewing the harmless lambs; some 

 leaping securely in the cool shade, whilst others 

 sported themselves in the cheerful sun; and saw 

 others craving comfort from the swollen udders of 

 their bleating dams. As I thus sat, these and 

 other sights had so fully possest my soul with con- 

 tent, that 1 thought, as the poet has happily 

 exprest it, 



I was for that time lifted above earth; 



And possest of joys not promis'd in my birth. 



IzAAK Walton 



Behold! the Sea, 

 The opaline, the plentiful and strong. 

 Yet beautiful as is the rose in June, 

 Fresh as the trickling rainbow of July; 

 Sea full of food, the nourisher of kinds, 

 Purger of earth, and medicine of men; 

 Creating a sweet climate by my breath. 

 Washing out harms and griefs from memory. 

 And, in my mathematic ebb and flow. 

 Giving a hint of that which changes not. 



Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Seashore" 



41 



