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<v Speaker 1>Section ten of Birds and All Nature, Volume seven, number two,

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<v Speaker 1>February nineteen hundred, recorded for LibriVox dot org by Diana Schmidt.

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<v Speaker 1>The Country, The Country from a Club of one by A. P.

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<v Speaker 1>Russell L. H. D. Trees. Think of them in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States. Thirty six varieties of oak, thirty four of pine,

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<v Speaker 1>nine of fur, five of spruce, four of hemlock, two

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<v Speaker 1>of per simon, twelve of ash, eighteen of willow, nine

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<v Speaker 1>of poplar. And I don't know how many of the

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful beach. I once counted over thirty different varieties of

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<v Speaker 1>trees in the space of one acre, and the leaves,

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<v Speaker 1>their number, their individuality, their variety of shape, and in

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<v Speaker 1>the acres of space that those of one great tree

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<v Speaker 1>would cover if spread out and laid together in the autumn,

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<v Speaker 1>to watch them fall, how slowly, how rapidly, Yet they

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<v Speaker 1>say nobody ever saw one of them. Let go Homer's

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<v Speaker 1>comparison to the lives of men, how fine better than

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<v Speaker 1>Lucy Anne's to the bubbles. I remember very well one

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<v Speaker 1>October day in Ohio. It was long ago, in life's

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<v Speaker 1>morning March, when my bosom was young. I liked to

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<v Speaker 1>quote from that poem of Campbell's it is incomparable of

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<v Speaker 1>its kind a delightful tramp Elderberry's the great Boer have

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<v Speaker 1>held the elder in such pleasant reverence for the multitude

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<v Speaker 1>of its virtues, that he is said to have taken

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<v Speaker 1>off his hat whenever he passed it. Grapes, paws, Papa's

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<v Speaker 1>Nature's custard, spicewood sassafras, hickory nuts, nearly a primeval forest,

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<v Speaker 1>vines reminding one of Brazilian creepers, trees that were respectable saplings.

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<v Speaker 1>When Columbus landed the dead roots of an iron wood

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<v Speaker 1>so like a monster as to startle behemoth, I thought

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<v Speaker 1>of he moveth his tail like a cedar, thistledown, diffused

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<v Speaker 1>like small vices, every seed hath wings here and there

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<v Speaker 1>a jay or a woodpecker. Grape Vines fantastically running over

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<v Speaker 1>the tops of tall bushes, grouping deformities, and any one

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<v Speaker 1>of which, if an artist drew, it would be called

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<v Speaker 1>an exaggeration worse than anything of dorays. Trees swaying and

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<v Speaker 1>bowing to one another like stilted clowns. In Nature's After

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<v Speaker 1>Piece of the Seasons, trees incorporated sycamore and elm maple

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<v Speaker 1>and hickory, modifying and partaking each other's nature, resembling so

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<v Speaker 1>much as to appear one tree a jolly gray squirrel,

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<v Speaker 1>hopping from limb to limb like a robin, swinging like

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<v Speaker 1>an oriole, flying along the limb like a weaver's shuttle,

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<v Speaker 1>scared away at length by a scudding cloud of pigeons,

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<v Speaker 1>just brushing the tallest tree tops, as if kissing an

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<v Speaker 1>annual farewell clover sorrel penny royal, a drink of cider

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<v Speaker 1>from a bit of broken crockery. Does he not drink

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<v Speaker 1>more sweetly that takes his beverage in an earthen vessel,

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<v Speaker 1>than he that looks and searches into his golden chalices

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<v Speaker 1>for fear of poison, and sleeps in armor, and trusts nobody,

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<v Speaker 1>and does not trust God for his safety. All is fair,

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<v Speaker 1>all is glad, from grass to sun, not a melancholy day.

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<v Speaker 1>Keith's poem on Autumn comes to mind, and crabs welcome,

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<v Speaker 1>pure thoughts, Welcome ye silent groves, these guests, these courts.

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<v Speaker 1>My soul most dearly loves Indian summer. Balzac's comparison to

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<v Speaker 1>ripe womanhood, The significant worn walk round the mean man's field,

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<v Speaker 1>its crooked outline impressively striking. All in all, a white

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<v Speaker 1>day memory of it supplies these notes. They might be

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<v Speaker 1>expanded into an essay the Country. The country, though the

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<v Speaker 1>man who would truly relish and enjoy it must be

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<v Speaker 1>previously furnished with a large and various stock of ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>which he must be capable of turning over in his

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<v Speaker 1>own mind, of comparing there, worrying, and contemplating upon with pleasure.

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<v Speaker 1>He must so thoroughly have seen the world as to

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<v Speaker 1>cure him of being over fond of it. And he

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<v Speaker 1>must have so much good sense and virtue in his

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<v Speaker 1>own heart as to prevent him from being disgusted with

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<v Speaker 1>his own reflections, or uneasy in his own company. Alas

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<v Speaker 1>and of Section ten, this recording is in the public domain.