The Potter journal and news item. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1872-1874, 1874-02-18
From Literary Companion-l
MY WINTER GARDEN.

MY WINTER GARDEN
l prefer, to any glass roof which
Sir Joseph Paxton ever planned, that
dome above my head some three miles
high, ofsoft dappled grey and yellow
cloud, through the vast lattice-work
whereof the blue sky peeps and sheds
down tender CLEANS on yellow bogs,
and softIy-rounded heather knobs,
and pale chalk ranges cleaning far
away. But. above all, glory in my
evergreens.
What winter garden csn compare
with mine? True, | have but four
kinds: Scotch fir. holly, furze and
heath; and, by way of relief to them,
only brows Of brown fern, sheets Of
yellow bog-grass and here and there
a leafess birch, whose purple tresseS
are even more lovely to my eye than
those fragrant green ones which she
puts on in spring.
Enough for me Is one purple birch;
the hUliies round its stem sparkling
with scarlet beads; the furze-patch,
rich with its lace-work Of interviewer
light and shade, tipped here and there
with golden bud; the deep, soft
heather carpet. which invites you to
lie down and dream for hours; and.
behind all. the wall of red fr-stems
and the dark fT-roof with its jagged
edges q mile long, against the soft
grey sky.
IN ugly. straieht-edged. m0noto-
nous FIR plantation, Well. | like it.
outside and inside. need no saw
edge of mountain peaks to stir up my
imagination with the sense Of the sub
lime. while | can watch the saw-edge
OF those fir peaks against the rel sun
set. They are my Alp-little ones.
il NAV be, but after all. as | asked be-
fore. what i sizez \ phantom Of our
braiR-an optical delusion. Gran
Eeur. if YOU will consider it wisely.
consists IN form. not in size: and to
yle eye Of the philosopher. the curve
drawn on a paper two inches long Is
just as magnificent. just a. symbolic
Of divine mysteries and melodies a
when embodied in the span Of some
cathedral roof
Have you eyes to see, Then lie
down on the grass and look near
enough TO see something more Of what
Is to be seen. and you will find tropic
jungles in tvery square foot Of turf.
glountain cliffs and debacles at the
mouth OF every rabbit burrow, dark
strids. tremendous cataracts. deep
glooms and sudden gIories. in every
toot-broad rilI which wauders through
the turf. All Is there for You TO see
if you viii but rid yourself of : n 1
idol OF space; and Nature, as every
one will tell you who has seen an in-
sect dissected under the microscope.
Is grand and graceful in her smallest
as in her hugest forms.
The March breeze Is chilly, but /
can always be warm. If | Ike. in nv
winter garden l turn my horses
head 10 the red wall Of fir stems and
leap over the fGrze-grown bank into
my cathedral, wherein if there be no
saints there are likewise 10 priest
craft and no idols, but endless vist2s
OF smooth, red. ire-n-veined shafts
holding up the warm. dark roof, les
sening sway into endless gloom, paved
with rich brown FIR needIe-a carpet
/ at which Ssture has been at work for
forty years Red SHIFTS, greei roof.
and here and there pane Of blue sky
-neitaeT Oven Jones nor WIIenens
can improve upon that ecclesiastical
ornamentstion-wtiIe for incense /
have the fresh. healthy t1rp~Htine fra
GRANGE
There is not breath Of sir within.
but the bTeeze sighs over the roof
above IN 8 soft whisper. | shut my
eyes and listen. Surely that is the
uurmar Of the summer sea upon the
summer sands N Devon far away. /