New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-23
LYING FALLOW.

These brilliant October days. when there Is
ono glory of luminous blue in the heavens and
many ,plcndors of bronze, crimson and purple
in the autumnaI foliage. arc radiant indeed;
hut there is something lacking in the rich mIsts
of sunlight and tho balmy air. The temperature
is not markedly different from that OF spring
time and if anything il is more cquable There
is the same soil in garden and field. but NOM
inc will grow in it even with the requisite con
ditionS of heat and moisture. The chemical
elements are there, but power Is lacking for
their assimilation, so that the subtle processes
of growth cannot be promoted The late
Towering chrysanthemumS blossom by virtue
of the accumulated store Of sunshine and vital
itv boarded during the long summer days, but
their burned and rusty foliage attcsts the sus-
pension Of the laws Of growth The oaks IN
the woodlands obstnatey resist the change OF
season and display the ycrdant leaves OF early
spring until the sharp frosts of November strike
them but even these hardy veterans show signs
of exhaustion There may he highly enriched
garden soil with every element needed for the
perfection of vegetation, and there may be dew
and rain, sunlight and tempered heat, but there
will not be growth. something is wanting,
some chemical properties of sunlight. or some
other condition Of Natures refined alchemy
and that mysterious something marks the differ
ence between October and May.
Nature seems Ia exhaust herself every year
in work ing her miracles Of creative power In
the early spring the breath Of life sweeps over
the world and every inorganic element seems
t. be vitalizod with energy Every sunbeam
=. - 70 s.gb aud r,ptiof fool.
the thrill of vcrnal energy the very atoms of
soil seem 10 be in motion rs the processes OF
Growth are begun and continued The work
If orderly combination in the laboratory OF
earth and air goes on without pause until there
is a completed and consistent creation. Toward
the end Nature seems - labor fccbly and pain
fully, as "A painter who has begun his work with
ardor and strength OF purpose fingers with
abatcd force over the finishing touches Of dots
of light and lines of shade Then the creative
impulse seems 20 lapse altogether. The sun
light loses itS chemical properties atoms are
no longer dissolved and aSsmaed gases re-
quircd for the breath Of tree and shrub are not
released and the mysterious law OF life and
growth is arrested October marks this tenn
porary collapse Of creative power. There has
been perfect order and proportion in the work,
but 1t has been finished.
Nature has her lessons for those who will
read and heed them. She i, no novice her
hand never loses its skill she never forgets the
secrets of her combinations but there arc times
when the power passes out of her dcft fingers.
Exhaustion follows ccaSclcSs activity. and her
force is spent. If Nature must needs lie fallow
for season before the creative impulse can
return and the old miracles of life and growth
can be wrought anew, must there be periods
Of inactivity and rest in mans creative work.
A David Grcve" cannot follow Robert
Elsmcrc' without a long interval of suspended
activity The great works OF architecture,
painting music and literature, which bear testl-
mony to the creative genius Of the race, are
not products of continuous and cShauStlng
activity, An artist can turn out pot-bolerS
all the yea. round and year after year, but
when he puts all inat there is III him into his
canvas he exhaustS his force, and. like Nature,
ough, to lie fallow until the power returns.
The modern novelist who makes a lucrative
trade of book writing. may produce two or
three volumes Il year, but he is degrading his
art, paraIyxng his powers and chcapcnng his
work Complete and consistent creation in
wolves the following effects Of rest ana quietudc.
Then the brain teens again with images, and
the work is instinct with creative energy.