THE STORY OF A BLADE OF GRASS. 
29 
season of spring grass, too, that the band of heroes 
under Jason set out under the guidance of the dove, 
which was directed by the hand of Minerva, to regain 
the Golden Fleece. It was at the time— 
<s When first the pleasing Pleiades appear, 
And grass-green meads pronounced the summer near, 
Of chiefs a valiant band, the flower of Greece, 
Had planned the emprise of the golden fleece.” 
But leaving the shadowy records and traditions of 
buried years, let us turn to the aspect of the grass itself, 
for it is everywhere a thing of beauty, whether gladden¬ 
ing the mountain solitude with its angel smile, greening 
the soft slopes of the mossy glades, where the red deer 
ivanders, and the child loves to play; whether gliding 
down into the deep, deep valleys, where the fountains 
murmur and the bees sing; whether clothing the sharp 
granite on the crown of the world, and making a 
cushion for the only flower which there looks up to God, 
or clinging, like an eternal friendship, to the roots of the 
gnarled trees, where in summer the rabbits burrow and 
the linnets sing, and in winter the storm-cloud gathers 
and the branches crash; while the hurricanes howl in 
chorus, scattering the growths of ages as they sweep the 
march of God. 
In all its states and stages it is emblematic of human 
sentiments and human fate; especially is it emblematic 
both of life and death. All imagery fades into common 
place beside the imagery of the inspired volume; and 
there the grass is again and again the subject of similes 
and comparisons that reach deeper into the heart than it 
