.. the meadow
is all bespattered with melody. His notes fall with the apple blossoms,
in the orchard."
Even more characteristic is an entry in his _Journal_ for June 11, 1840,
where he tries to fathom the consciousness of the solitary bittern:--
"With its patient study by rocks and sandy capes, has it wrested the
whole of her secret from Nature yet? It has looked out from its dull eye
for so long, standing on one leg, on moon and stars sparkling through
silence and dark, and now what a rich experience is its! What says it of
stagnant pools, and reeds, and damp night fogs? It would be worth while
to look in the eye which has been open and seeing in such hours and in
such solitudes. When I behold that dull yellowish green, I wonder if my
own soul is not a bright invisible green. I would fain lay my eye side by
side with its and learn of it."
In this entry, which was probably never revised for publication, we note
three of his characteristics: his images "fresh from the soil," adding
vigor to his style; his mystic and poetic communion with nature; and the
peculiar transcendental desire to pass beyond human experience and to
supplement it with new revelations of the gospel of nature.
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