The vast inland grain fields, that stretch in unbroken procession from
horizon to horizon, have the seas at their roots not less truly than
the fertile soil out of which they spring; the verdure upon the
mountain ranges, that keep unbroken solitude at the heart of the
continents, speaks forever of the distant oceans which nourish it, and
spread it like a vesture over the barren heights. No traveller, deep
in the recesses of the remotest inland, ever passes beyond the voice of
that encircling ocean which never died out of the ears of the ancient
Ulysses in the first Odyssey of wandering.
Two months ago the apple trees were white with the foam of the upper
sea; to-day the roses have brought into my little patch of garden the
hues with which sun and sea proclaimed their everlasting marriage in
the twilight of yester even. In the deep, passionate heart of these
splendid flowers, fragrant since they bloomed in Sappho's hand
centuries ago, this sublime wedlock is annually celebrated; earth and
sky meet and commingle in this miracle of colour and sweetness, and
when I carry this lovely flower into my study all the poets fall
silent; here is a depth of life, a radiant outcome from the heart of
mysteries, a hint of unimagined beauty, such as they have never brought
to me in all their seeking.
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