Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-08-22
..MY OUTDOOR STUDY"

The walls of my study are OF eVerchauBins
verdure, and its roof aud floor are OF eVer-Vary'
ing blue. never enter it without new heaf-
en- above and new thoughts below. l he lake
has no ,otly shores and no level ones, Dut a
series OF undulating hills, iringed with woods
from end to end The profanlng axe may
sometimes come near the margiiI' anu que may
hear the whetting of the scythe, put no cui',
waited land abuts upon the mann iaNe, 'housn
beyond the narrow woods there are mere anu
there glimpses of rye-felds that wave IKE roll
ing mist Graceful islands rise from the quiet
waters = Grape Island, Grass Island, sharp
Pine Island, and the rest baptized with simple
name by departed generations OF iarhers--ail
wooded and bushy and trailing with ies'oonery
of vines. Here and there the banks are li,uen
ted, and one may pass beneath dropping chest
nut leaves and among alder prahcnes nv
some secret sanctuary OF Stiffness Inc eni
erald edges of these silent tarns are starreu
with dandelions which have strayed mere one
scarce knows how, from their ioieleh ho'ne
the buck.bean perchance grows III Tue WAFER
or the Rhodora fixes here one OF lis shy ca'ip'
ing places, or there are whole SKIES Vi iuPihe
on the sloping banks the cat"Oiru ouilus us
nest beside us, the yellow-0iru ABOVE 'ne
wood-thrush sings late ana the "hippool"ii,
later. and sometimes the scarlet tanager ana
HIS BOluen DdlTeu DlIuC eNhN " D.
tropics through these leaty alsles'
Sometimes rest in yet more secluded
place amid the waters, where little wooded
island holds small lagoon in the centre, just
wide enough for the wherry to run round
The entrance lies between two hornbeam trees
which stand close to the brink, spreading over
it their thornike branches ana thelr sillil'ns
leaves Within there is perfect shelter, the 49,
land forms high circular bank, like coral
reef, and shuts out the wind ana passing poa'S'
the surface is paved with lily and pond"weed,
and the bouohs anoye are full OF song. NO
matter what white caps may crest Tue u'ue
waters OF the pond, which here wldens out 10
its broadcast reach, there is always quiet mere
A few Oar.strokes distant lies dam OF water
break, where the whole lake Is heiu unuer
control by certain distant mills, towards WHICH
sluggish stream goes winding on 'nrcuen
miles If water lilies The old gray liihDeIs Vi
the dam are the natural resort OF every boy or
boatman within their reach; some come III
pursuit of pickerel, some OF turtles, some OF
bullfrogs, some of lilies, some OF bathing 1t
is a good place for the last desideratum, ana IL
is well to leave here the boat tethered TO the
vines which overhang the cove, and perform
sacred and oriental ablution beneath the sunny
afternoon.
Oh, radiant and divine afternoon The
poets profusely celebrate silver evenings and
golden mornings but what floods on floods OF
beauty steep the earth and gladden. 1t IN the
first hours of days decline! The exuberant
rays reflect and multiply themselves from every
leaf and blade the cows lie upon the hillside,
with their broad peaceful backs painted INTO
the landscape; the hum OF insects, tlnlest
bells on the garment OF silence" nils the air !;
the gorgeous butterflies dOze upon the thistle
blooms till they almost fall from TIE petals !;
the air is full of warm fragrance from the VIVA
grape clusters; the grass is burning not De-
meath the naked feet in sunshine, and cool as
water in the shade. Diving from this over
hanging beam,-lor Ovid evidently meant that
Midas to be cured must dive
Subde caput corpusque stimuli, stimuli clue crinem, y
one finds as kindly reception from the water
as in childish days, and as safe shelter In the
green dressing groom afterwards and the pa
lient wherry floats near by, in readiness tor a
decentralization.
Here word seems needed, unprofesslonaily
and non-technicaly, upon boats-these being
the sole seats provided for occupant or visitor
| in my out door study. When wineries hrst
appeared in this peaceful inland community,
the novel proportions occasioned remark
Facetious bystanders inquired sarcasncaily
| whether that thing were expected TO carry
more than one,-pIainlN implying BY labored
tenanteu ny even less than that number.
Transcendental friends inquired, with more
refined severity, If the proprietor expected to
mediate in that thing? This doubt at least
seemed legitimate. Meditation seems to belong
to sailing rather than rowing there is some.
thing so gentle and unintrusive in gliding
etfortless beneath overhanging branches and
along the trailing edgesof clematis thickets =
what privilege of fairy land in this noSeless
PROV, looking IN and out of one flowery cove
after another, scarcely stirring the turtle from
his log, and leaving no wake behind 1t
seemed as if all the process OF rowing had too
much noise and buster, and as if the sharp,
slender wherry, in particular, were rather too
pert and dapper to win the confidence of the
woods and waters. Time has dispelIed the
fear As | rest poised upon the oars above
some submerged shallow, diamonded with
ripple broken sunbeams, the fantastic NOtonecta
or water-boatman rests upon his oars below
and | see that his proportions anticipated the
wherry as honeyeombs antedated the problem
of the hexagonal cell. While one of us rests,
so does the other and when one shoots away
rapidly above the water, the other does the
same beneath. For the time as our motions
seem the same, so with our motives,-my en-.
joyment certainly not less, with the cunven.
fences of humanity thrown in.
But the sun is declining low The club boats
are out, aud from island to island in the dis.
lance these shafts of youthful life shoot swiftly
across. There races some swift ATLANTA, with
no apple to tall in her path but some soft and
spotted oak-apple from an oVerhanging tree ;
there the Phantom, with crew white and
ghostlike in the distance, glinmers in and out
behind the headlands, while wonder wherry
glides lonely across the smooth expanse. The
voices Of all these oarsmen are dim and almost
inaudibe, being so far away but one would
scarcely wish that distance should annihate
the ringing laughter of these joyous girls, who
come gliding in a safe and heavy boat, they
and some blue dragon.fiies together, around
yonder wo ded point.
Many summer afternoon have rowed
ioyously with these same maidens beneath
these steep and garlanded shores many time
have they pulled the heavy four-oar, with me
as coxswain at the helm,-the said patient
steersman being oft-times insulted by classical
illusions from rival boats, satrically comparing
him to an indolent Venus drawn by doves,
while the oarswomen in turn were lkeDed to
Minerva with her feet upon tortoise. Many
were the disasters in the earlier days offemiuihe
training first of toilet straw hats blowing
away, hair coming doEn, hair pins strewing
the floor OF the boat, gloves commonly happen
ing 10 De OH al lne precise luoment oi slarllng,
and trials of speed impaired by somebody's
oar catching in somebody's dress pocket Then
the actual difficulties of handling the long and
heavy oars,--the first essays at teathering,
with a complicated splash of air and water, as
when wild duck in rising swims and flies
together, and uses neither element handsome
ly,-the occasional pulling of particularly
vigorous stroke through the atmosphere alone,
and at other times the compromising disap
pearancc OF nearly the whole oar beneath the