EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 159 
muddy pools and ditches, sheltered by the sur¬ 
rounding banks which reflect the heat upon it, 
ventures to lift the points of its green phalanx 
into the mild and flattering atmosphere, and 
advances rapidly from the saffron even to the 
rosy tints of morning. But the following night 
comes the frost which with rude and ruthless 
hand sweeps the surface of the pool, and the 
advancing morning pales into the dim light of 
earliest dawn. I thus detect the first approach 
of spring by finding here and there its scouts 
and vanguard which have been slain by the 
rearguard of retreating winter. 
* March 17, 1858. Hear the first bluebird. 
P. M. To the Hill. A remarkably warm 
and pleasant day with a south or southwest 
wind. The air is full of bluebirds, I hear them 
far and near on all sides of the hill, warbling in 
the tree-tops, though I do not distinctly see 
them. I stand by the wall at the east base of 
the hill, looking into the alder meadow lately 
cut off. I am peculiarly attracted by its red- 
brown maze, seen in this bright sun and mild 
southwest wind. It has expression in it as a 
familiar freckled face. Metliinks it is about 
waking up, though it still slumbers. I see the 
still, smooth pools of water in its midst almost 
free from ice, and seem to hear the sound of the 
water soaking into it, as it were, its voice. 
