Songs of the Fields 



fliience of this gold bath that all creation has be- 

 come intoxicated with it for centuries. Poets sing 

 it, artists paint it, and natural historians wrestle 

 ^\itli it — thus. 



It appeals to me that this would be a fine time 

 to celebrate the New Year. Why should Me call 

 the first of Januarjr the "New Year?" There is The New 

 nothing new about a continuation of the same '^^' ^^' 

 dead, shut-in winter season. Why go around cry- 

 ing, "Happy New Year!" when nothing is new 

 and people are least happy of all their lives? 



But when winter flees at the awakening of 

 spring, when ]Marcli winds arouse us, when earth 

 thrusts up tender growth to signal us that she is 

 readj^ for seed-bearing, when nature is given a new 

 robe, the sky j^nre air; whe?i the birds come liome, 

 animals creep from liibernation, and the Almighty 

 showers His gold, — everything is refreshed, even 

 the oldest hearts of us. Just for the sake of con- 

 sistency the year should be new when the earth 

 awakens, when human as well as bird, insect, and 

 animal hearts are glad, when the soul is uplifted, 

 when for a few days all nature is rich enough lit- 

 erally to bathe in gold. 



Among the few musicians that have arrived at 

 this time in birdland the skylark soars j^re-eminent. 

 Not that he is more beautifid than his fello^vs, 

 although he comes in time to stripe bis head and 

 cover bis heart with the choicest of the gold. The 



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