Monday, April 1, 2013

Nightfall, April First

April 1.

Now, at early starlight, I hear the Snipe’s hovering note as he circles over Nawshawtuct Meadow. Only once did I seem to see him; occasionally his squeak.  He is now heard near, now farther, but is sure to circle round again. It sounds very much like a winnowing-machine increasing rapidly in intensity for a few seconds.

There will be no moon till toward morning. There are but three elements in the landscape now, -- the star-studded sky, the water, reflecting the stars and the lingering daylight, and the dark narrow land between. A slight mist is rising from the surface of the water.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal,  April 1, 1853


Now, at early starlight, I hear the Snipe’s hovering note as he circles over Nawshawtuct Meadow. See April 9, 1853(“Hear the snipe a short time at early starlight. . . . Louder than all is heard the shrill peep of the hylodes and the hovering note of the snipe, circling invisible above them all.”) See also A Book of Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Snipe

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