1Y 
INTRODUCTORY. 
brought nearer to the writer by observing the 
same sights, sounds, etc., and if possible have 
my love of nature quickened by him. This 
habit suggested the arrangement of dates in 
the following pages, viz., the bringing together 
of passages under the same day of the month 
in different years. In this way I hoped to 
make an interesting picture of the progress of 
the seasons, of Thoreau’s year. It was evi¬ 
dently painted with \ most genuine love, and 
often apparently in the open air, in the very 
presence of the phenomena described, so that 
the written page brings the mind of the reader, 
as writing seldom does, into closest contact with 
nature, making him see its sights, hear its 
sounds, and feel its very breath upon his 
cheek. 
Thoreau seems deliberately to have chosen 
nature rather than man for his companion, 
though he knew well the higher value of man, 
as appears from such passages as the following : 
“ The blue sky is a distant reflection of the 
azure serenity that looks out from under a 
human brow.” u To attain to a true relation 
to one human creature is enough to make a 
year memorable.” And somewhere he says in 
substance, “ What is the singing of birds or any 
natural sound compared with the voice of one 
we love? ” Friendship was one of his favorite 
