It left me feeling as though there were some
beautiful life, very near me, all around me, behind the mirror,
outside of the door, beyond the garden-hedges, if I could but learn
the spell which would open it to me; left me pleasantly and happily
athirst for a life of gracious influences and of an unknown and
perfect peace; such as creeps over the mind for the moment at the
sight of a deep woodland at sunset, when the forest is veiled in
the softest of blue mist; or at the sound of some creeping sea,
beating softly all night on a level sand; or at the prospect of a
winter sun going down into smoky orange vapours over a wide expanse
of pastoral country; or at the soft close of some solemn music--
when peace seems not only desirable beyond all things but
attainable too.
How can one account for this sudden and joyful visitation? I am
going to try and set down what I believe to be the explanation, if
I can reduce to words a thought which is perfectly clear to me,
however transcendental it may seem.
Well, at such a moment as this, one feels just as one may feel when
from the streets of a dark and crowded city, with the cold shadow
of a cloud passing over it, one sees the green head of a mountain
over the housetops, all alone with the wind and the sun, with its
crag-bastions, its terraces and winding turf ways.
Pages:
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378