"The mighty world
Of eye and ear, both what they half create and what perceive;"
which is as true in the case of the naturalist as of the poet; both "half create" the world they describe. Darwin does something to his facts as well as Tennyson to his. Before a fact can become poetry, it must pass through the heart or the imagination of the poet; before it can become science, it must pass through the understanding of the scientist. Or one may say, it is with the thoughts and half thoughts that the walker gathers in the woods and fields, as with the common weeds and coarser wild flowers which he plucks for a bouquet,—wild carrot, purple aster, moth mullein, sedge, grass, etc.: they look common and uninteresting enough there in the fields, but the moment he separates them from the tangled mass, and brings them indoors, and places them in a vase, say of some choice glass, amid artificial things,—behold, how beautiful! They have an added charm and significance at once; they are defined and identified, and what was common and familiar becomes unexpectedly attractive. The writer's style, the quality of mind he brings, is the vase in which his commonplace impressions and incidents are made to appear so beautiful and significant.
Man can have but one interest in nature, namely, to see himself reflected or interpreted there; and we quickly neglect both poet and philosopher who fail to satisfy, in some measure, this feeling.
The Riverside Press
Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Books by John Burroughs.
WORKS. 14 vols., uniform, 16mo, gilt top, $17.10; half calf, $34.10; half polished morocco, $37.45.
Wake-Robin.
Winter Sunshine.
Locusts and Wild Honey.
Fresh Fields.
Indoor Studies.
Birds and Poets, with Other Papers.
Pepacton, and Other Sketches.
Signs and Seasons.
Riverby.
Whitman: A Study.
The Light of Day: Religious Discussions and
Criticisms from the Standpoint of a Naturalist.
Each of the above, $1.25.
Literary Values. A Series of literary Essays.
Far and Near.
Ways of Nature.
Each of the above, $1.10, net. Postage extra.
WAYS OF NATURE. Riverside Edition. 12mo, $1.50, net. Postage extra.
FAR AND NEAR. Riverside Edition. 12mo, $1.50, net. Postage 11 cents.
A YEAR IN THE FIELDS. Selections appropriate to each season of the year, from the writings of John Burroughs. Illustrated from Photographs by Clifton Johnson. 12mo, $1.50.
WHITMAN: A Study. Riverside Edition. 12mo, $1.50, net.
THE LIGHT OF DAY: Religious Discussions and Criticisms from the Standpoint of a Naturalist. Riverside Edition. 12mo, $1.50, net.
LITERARY VALUES. Riverside Edition. 12mo, $1.50, net. Postage, 11 cents.
WINTER SUNSHINE. Cambridge Classics Series. Crown 8vo, $1.00.
WAKE-ROBIN. Riverside Aldine Series. 16mo, $1.00.
SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS. Illustrated. Square 12mo, $1.00. School Edition, 60 cents, net.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break.
Printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been
retained.