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| August 8, 2014 |
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| Lobelia cardinalis |
The cardinals are in perfection, standing in dark recesses of the green shore, or in the open meadow. They are fluviatile, and stand along some river or brook, like myself.
The cardinals are in perfection. See July 27, 1852 ("The cardinal-flower just opened, close to the water's edge, remarkable for its intense scarlet color, contrasting with the surrounding green."); August 6, 1851 ("I see cardinal-flowers, with their red artillery, reminding me of soldiers . . It is remarkable for its intensely brilliant scarlet color. You are slow to concede to it a high rank among flowers, but ever and anon, as you turn your eyes away, it dazzles you and you pluck it."); August 6, 1852 ("I love to follow up the course of the brook and see the cardinal-flowers. . . their brilliant scarlet the more interesting in this open, but dark, cellar-like wood,"); August 16, 1858 ("I am surprised to find that where of late years there have been so many cardinal-flowers, there are now very few. So much does a plant fluctuate from season to season.")
The foliage of most trees is now not only most dense, but a very dark green. See August 6, 1854 ("As I look westward up the stream, the oak, etc., on Ponkawtasset are of a very dark green, almost black, which, methinks, they have worn only since midsummer"
I see one large white maple crisped and tinged with a sort of rosaceous tinge. See August 6, 1854 ("I see some smaller white maples turned a dull red, — crimsonish, — a slight blush on them. "); August 15, 1858 (“The smaller white maples are very generally turned a dull red, and their long row, seen against the fresh green of Ball’s Hill, is very surprising.”); August 22, 1856 (“I notice three or four clumps of white maples, at the swamp up the Assabet, which have turned as red (dull red) as ever they do, fairly put on their autumnal hue.”)
The foliage of most trees is now not only most dense, but a very dark green.
I see one large white maple crisped and tinged with a sort of rosaceous tinge, just above the Golden Horn.
The surface is very glassy there.
H. D. Thoreau, Journal, August 8, 1854
I look down a rod and see distinctly the fishes and the bottom. See August 8, 1859 ("The river, now that it is so clear and sunny, is better than any aquarium."); see also July 30, 1856 ("The wonderful clearness of the water, enabling you to explore the river bottom and many of its secrets now...”); July 28, 1859 ("The season has now arrived when I begin to see further into the water"); July 27, 1860 ("The water has begun to be clear and sunny, revealing the fishes and countless minnows of all sizes and colors”) and A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Season of Sunny Water
H. D. Thoreau, Journal, August 8, 1854
I look down a rod and see distinctly the fishes and the bottom. See August 8, 1859 ("The river, now that it is so clear and sunny, is better than any aquarium."); see also July 30, 1856 ("The wonderful clearness of the water, enabling you to explore the river bottom and many of its secrets now...”); July 28, 1859 ("The season has now arrived when I begin to see further into the water"); July 27, 1860 ("The water has begun to be clear and sunny, revealing the fishes and countless minnows of all sizes and colors”) and A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Season of Sunny Water
The cardinals are in perfection. See July 27, 1852 ("The cardinal-flower just opened, close to the water's edge, remarkable for its intense scarlet color, contrasting with the surrounding green."); August 6, 1851 ("I see cardinal-flowers, with their red artillery, reminding me of soldiers . . It is remarkable for its intensely brilliant scarlet color. You are slow to concede to it a high rank among flowers, but ever and anon, as you turn your eyes away, it dazzles you and you pluck it."); August 6, 1852 ("I love to follow up the course of the brook and see the cardinal-flowers. . . their brilliant scarlet the more interesting in this open, but dark, cellar-like wood,"); August 16, 1858 ("I am surprised to find that where of late years there have been so many cardinal-flowers, there are now very few. So much does a plant fluctuate from season to season.")
The foliage of most trees is now not only most dense, but a very dark green. See August 6, 1854 ("As I look westward up the stream, the oak, etc., on Ponkawtasset are of a very dark green, almost black, which, methinks, they have worn only since midsummer"
I see one large white maple crisped and tinged with a sort of rosaceous tinge. See August 6, 1854 ("I see some smaller white maples turned a dull red, — crimsonish, — a slight blush on them. "); August 15, 1858 (“The smaller white maples are very generally turned a dull red, and their long row, seen against the fresh green of Ball’s Hill, is very surprising.”); August 22, 1856 (“I notice three or four clumps of white maples, at the swamp up the Assabet, which have turned as red (dull red) as ever they do, fairly put on their autumnal hue.”)
The surface is very glassy there. See June 11, 1854 (" A sheet of water . . . revealed by its reflections, a smooth, glassy mirror, reflecting the light sky and the dark and shady woods.") See also note to August 4, 1852 ("A pleasant time to behold a small lake in the woods is in the intervals of a gentle rain-storm at this season, when the air and water are perfectly still, but the sky still overcast.")
August 8. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, August 8
Along the river
a day of sunny water –
I see the fishes.
Perfect cardinals,
fluviatile like myself
standing on the shore.
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
tinyurl.com/hdt-540808
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