 |
| August 19, 2015 |
The meadows by the railroad appear to have got an exceedingly fresh and tender green.
The near meadow is very beautiful now, seen from the railroad through this dog-day haze, which softens its fresh green of so many various shades, blending them harmoniously, — darker and lighter patches of grass and the very light yellowish-green of the sensitive fern which the mowers have left. It has an indescribable beauty to my eye now, which it could not have in a clear day.
The haze has the effect both of a wash or varnish and of a harmonizing tint. It destroys the idea of definite distance which distinctness suggests.
One bunch of Viburnum nudum berries, all green, with very little pink tinge even. See August 12, 1854 ("They are a very pretty, irregularly elliptical berry, one side longer than the other, and particularly interesting on account of the mixture of light-green, deep-pink, and dark-purple, and also withered berries, in the same cyme. ") See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Viburnum
August 19. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, August 19
The haze has the effect both of a wash or varnish and of a harmonizing tint. It destroys the idea of definite distance which distinctness suggests.
It is as if you had painted a meadow of fresh grass springing up after the mower, — here a dark green, there lighter, and there again the yellowish onoclea, — then washed it over with some gum like a map and tinted the paper of a fine misty blue. This is an effect of the dog-days.
There is such a haze we see not further than our Annursnack, which is blue as a mountain.
There is now a remarkable drought, some of whose phenomena I have referred to during several weeks past. Many white birches long since lost the greater part of their leaves, which cover the ground, sere and brown as in autumn.
There is such a haze we see not further than our Annursnack, which is blue as a mountain.
There is now a remarkable drought, some of whose phenomena I have referred to during several weeks past. Many white birches long since lost the greater part of their leaves, which cover the ground, sere and brown as in autumn.
So like tinder is everything now that we passed three places within a mile where the old sleepers heaped up by the track had just been set on fire by the engine, — in one place a large pile.
Flint's Pond has fallen very much since I was here. The shore is so exposed that you can walk round, which I have not known possible for several years, and the outlet is dry. But Walden is not affected by the drought.
Fresh green of so many various shades blending . . . harmoniously. See August 19, 1853 ("The different shades of green of different and the same trees . . . melting into one another . . . make a most glorious soft and harmonious picture, only to be seen at this season of the day and perhaps of the year”)
The very light yellowish-green of the sensitive fern which the mowers have left. See August 6, 1854 ("Small light-green sensitive ferns are springing up full of light on the bank.") September 6, 1856 ("The sensitiveness of the sensitive fern. If you take a tender plant by the stem, the warmth of your hand will cause the leaves to curl.")
There is such a haze we see not further than our Annursnack, which is blue as a mountain. See August 13, 1854 ("Now the mountains are concealed by the dog-day haze”); August 22, 1854 (“The haze is so thick that we can hardly see more than a mile.”); Compare August 19, 1858 ("The dog-day weather is suddenly gone and here is a cool, clear, and elastic air. You may say it is the first day of autumn.")
Flint's Pond has fallen very much . . . But Walden is not affected by the drought. See Walden ("The pond rises and falls, but whether regularly or not, and within what period, nobody knows, though, as usual, many pretend to know. . . . Flint's Pond, a mile eastward . . . sympathize[s] with Walden, and recently attained their greatest height at the same time with the latter.") and note to December 5, 1852 ("Walden has no visible inlet nor outlet, but it is . . . distantly and indirectly related to Flint's Pond")
Flint's Pond has fallen very much since I was here. The shore is so exposed that you can walk round, which I have not known possible for several years, and the outlet is dry. But Walden is not affected by the drought.
Plucked, about 4.30, one bunch of Viburnum nudum berries, all green, with very little pink tinge even. When I got home at 6.30, nine were turned blue, the next morning thirty. It seems that they do not always pass through the deep-pink stage. They are quite sweet to eat, like raisins.
H. D. Thoreau, Journal, August 19, 1854
H. D. Thoreau, Journal, August 19, 1854
Fresh green of so many various shades blending . . . harmoniously. See August 19, 1853 ("The different shades of green of different and the same trees . . . melting into one another . . . make a most glorious soft and harmonious picture, only to be seen at this season of the day and perhaps of the year”)
The very light yellowish-green of the sensitive fern which the mowers have left. See August 6, 1854 ("Small light-green sensitive ferns are springing up full of light on the bank.") September 6, 1856 ("The sensitiveness of the sensitive fern. If you take a tender plant by the stem, the warmth of your hand will cause the leaves to curl.")
There is such a haze we see not further than our Annursnack, which is blue as a mountain. See August 13, 1854 ("Now the mountains are concealed by the dog-day haze”); August 22, 1854 (“The haze is so thick that we can hardly see more than a mile.”); Compare August 19, 1858 ("The dog-day weather is suddenly gone and here is a cool, clear, and elastic air. You may say it is the first day of autumn.")
There is now a remarkable drought. See July 13, 1854 (“In the midst of July heat and drought.”); July 14, 1854 (“Awake to day of gentle rain, — very much needed; none to speak of for nearly a month, methinks”); September 10, 1854 ("September 1st and 2d, the thunder-shower of evening of September 6th, and this regular storm are the first fall rains after the long drought.”)
Flint's Pond has fallen very much . . . But Walden is not affected by the drought. See Walden ("The pond rises and falls, but whether regularly or not, and within what period, nobody knows, though, as usual, many pretend to know. . . . Flint's Pond, a mile eastward . . . sympathize[s] with Walden, and recently attained their greatest height at the same time with the latter.") and note to December 5, 1852 ("Walden has no visible inlet nor outlet, but it is . . . distantly and indirectly related to Flint's Pond")
One bunch of Viburnum nudum berries, all green, with very little pink tinge even. See August 12, 1854 ("They are a very pretty, irregularly elliptical berry, one side longer than the other, and particularly interesting on account of the mixture of light-green, deep-pink, and dark-purple, and also withered berries, in the same cyme. ") See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Viburnum
August 19. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, August 19
Fresh and tender green
of so many shades blending
harmoniously.
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The meadows by the railroad
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau,
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality.”
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2024
https://tinyurl.com/hdt-540819
No comments:
Post a Comment