The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1922-10-12
HARVEST DAYS

TO him who, in the love Of Nature,
Communion with her visible forms,
she speaks
A various language; for his gayer
hours
She has voice Of gladness, and
smile
And eloquence Of beauty; and she
glides
Into his darker musings with mild
And healing sympathy, that steals
away
Their sharpness ere he is aware.
The above is the first sentence of
William Cullen Bryant's great poem,
Thanatopsis, written by that liter
airy genius when the muse had led
him out to commune with Nature in
her beauty and grandeur. 1t is said
to be one of the worlds greatest
poems, but we must believe that it
would have been greater still if the
poet could have gotten his inspiration
from the beauty Of Upton county
during the harvest days.
The poetic mind must be charmed
and inspired by the marvellous beauty
Of field and forest, the wealth Of
color on every hand and the fragrance
of new hay and maturing crops.
We are accustomed to think that
extensive trips to mountains and sea-
side are necessary if we want to en-
JOY the beauties Of nature, but if we
go out along the roads anywhere and
look for beauty we will be charmed
by what we see right here at home
the white cotton fields, the red and
gold Of the black gums, the rich vel
low Of the golden rod, the lovely
brown Of the ripening corn and the
deep green that yet remains in the
woods.
All these possess a charm and
wealth of loneliness and beauty that
facinates and thrills.
In one place the busy farmer is
Tivaling the bees in making syrup and
storing it for the use of his family.
In another place the colofed people
are bringing back memories of the
Old South by working in great droyes,
picking cotton to the rhythm Of old
Southern melodies. In still other
places the people are busy shocking
the hay, gathering the corn, or per-
haps cultivating the soil for a fall
crop.
These things are beautiful as we
see them by day, but what is prettier
than Upton county by moonlight?
How many of our people have looked
south and east across the valley from
Mt. Lebanon hill on a moonlight
night? A former Upton countian,
who had travelled extensively, said
that he had never beheld a more
beautiful scene than that.
Whether our trips be by day or night,
and whether the path we take lead
through the flat lands of Big Hatchie
bottom; along the bluffs on the wes-
tern border Of the county or among
the hills and valleys elsewhere, we
are surrounded by enhancing beauty
if we only look for it.
The problems, the foibles and even
the crimes of men are but temporary
and passing, but the handiwork Of
the Almighty, stretched out before
us in the ever changing and unfold
ing beauties of nature, are perma-
nent and abiding.
One who loves the true and the
beautiful must in a measure, at least,
love the Author Of truth and beauty,
and hence become better citizen
neighbor and friend.
1t will help us once in while right
here in Upton county to forget the
grind of daily duties and response
bilities, the problems Of our complex
civilization, and above all, our selfish
ness and littleness, and enjoy in its
fullness the beauty and loneliness
with which we are surrounded.
The weather continues fine and