I
remember that I was haunted by two lines of French verse; in some
dumb way they seemed to fit my surroundings and give expression to
the contentment that was in me, and I kept repeating to myself -
'Mon coeur est un luth suspendu,
Sitot qu'on le touche, il resonne.'
I can give no reason why these lines came to me at this time; and for
that very cause I repeat them here. For all I know, they may serve
to complete the impression in the mind of the reader, as they were
certainly a part of it for me.
And this happened to me in the place of all others where I liked
least to stay. When I think of it I grow ashamed of my own
ingratitude. 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness.' There, in
the bleak and gusty North, I received, perhaps, my strongest
impression of peace. I saw the sea to be great and calm; and the
earth, in that little corner, was all alive and friendly to me. So,
wherever a man is, he will find something to please and pacify him:
in the town he will meet pleasant faces of men and women, and see
beautiful flowers at a window, or hear a cage-bird singing at the
corner of the gloomiest street; and for the country, there is no
country without some amenity - let him only look for it in the right
spirit, and he will surely find.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324