SOUTH-WEST LONDON 265 



the sky lifted to an immeasurable height. Some 

 such idea as this, of the indescribable charm of 

 the large soaring bird, of its value to the artistic 

 eye in producing the effect of distance and 

 vastness in nature, was probably in our late 

 lost artist-poet's mind when he painted the 

 following exquisite word-picture : — 



High up and light are the clouds; and though the 



swallows flit 

 So high above the sunlit earth, they are well a part 



of it ; 

 And so though high over them are the wings of the 



wandering hern, 

 In measureless depths above him doth the fair sky 



quiver and burn. 



Speaking for myself, without the ' wandering 

 hern,' or buzzard, or other large soaring species, 

 the sky does not impress me with its height and 

 vastness ; and without the sea-fowl the most 

 tremendous sea-fronting cliff is a wall which may 

 be any height ; and the noblest cathedral without 

 any jackdaws soaring and gamboling about its 

 towers is apt to seem little more than a great 

 barn, or a Dissenting chapel on a gigantic scale. 



Kew Gardens, with the adjoining spaces of 

 Old Deer Park and the Queen's Private Grounds, 



