THE STORY OE A BLADE OF GRASS, 
27 
the visible emblem of the Eternal. The green grass was 
the first altar, and the brown forest with its roof of sky 
the first temple. The Druids walked in solemn proces¬ 
sion over the dewy sward of the forest, when, with shouts 
of joy and wild songs of gladness, they assembled to 
commemorate the egress of the ark. Then the caves 
were festooned wfith garlands; an altar was built of 
grasses and vine leaves; the crystal cups of honey were 
twined with clusters of wild blossoms; the trees were 
festooned with flowers; and citterns, emblematical of the 
sun-god, were hnng among the garlands. Then in the 
twilight recesses the priests performed the mystic dance, 
and as the May smile of morning broke upon the hills 
and fields, the hymns of the May-women were whispered 
in wild melodies, and the invocation to May was per¬ 
formed upon the green. The cattle lowed in the 
meadows, the birds sang in the valleys, and the sun, 
pillowed on the clouds of heaven, flushed the fountains 
and the forests with his golden fire. The multitude fell 
prostrate on the grass. The priests bowed to the pavilion 
of celestial glory; and with one accord the throngs of 
worshippers broke forth into hymns of praise, so that 
solemn music and sweet odours were eminent in the 
rituals of the grassy temples of the ancient Britons.* 
When man, first waking np from rude barbarism, 
perceived the relations of the world without to the world 
within himself, he sought to embody the unshapen 
poetry of his heart in some form of simple beauty, and 
he took the grass as the first representative of the 
exuberance of nature. He made manifest his thankful- 
* Harrovian. 
