When We Hasten
To The Fruition, When THERE Is Changed To HERE, All Is Afterwards
As It Was Before, And
We stand in our indigent and cramped estate,
and our soul thirsts after a still ebbing elixir.' It is
To this
wandering and uneasy spirit of anticipation that roads minister.
Every little vista, every little glimpse that we have of what lies
before us, gives the impatient imagination rein, so that it can
outstrip the body and already plunge into the shadow of the woods,
and overlook from the hill-top the plain beyond it, and wander in
the windings of the valleys that are still far in front. The road
is already there - we shall not be long behind. It is as if we were
marching with the rear of a great army, and, from far before, heard
the acclamation of the people as the vanguard entered some friendly
and jubilant city. Would not every man, through all the long miles
of march, feel as if he also were within the gates?
CHAPTER XIV - ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES - 1874
It is a difficult matter to make the most of any given place, and
we have much in our own power. Things looked at patiently from one
side after another generally end by showing a side that is
beautiful. A few months ago some words were said in the Portfolio
as to an 'austere regimen in scenery'; and such a discipline was
then recommended as 'healthful and strengthening to the taste.'
That is the text, so to speak, of the present essay.
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