It remains only to add the editor's very hearty acknowledgements to his associate, Mr. Francis H. Allen, who has overseen and verified the copying of the manuscript, an onerous task, and in every way, by counsel and labor, has facilitated, not to say made possible, the completion of the work. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION xix CHAPTER I. 1837 (ÆT. 20) 3 Opening of the Journal—Quotations from Goethe—Ducks at Goose Pond—The Arrowhead—With and Against the Stream—Discipline—Sunrise—Harmony—The World from a Hilltop—Hoar Frost—Measure—Thorns—Jack Frost—Druids—Immortality Post—The Saxons—Crystals —Revolutions—Heroes—The Interesting Facts in History. CHAPTER II. 1838 (ÆT. 20-21) 25 The Saxons—Hoar Frost—Zeno, the Stoic—Small Talk—Old Books—Greece—Goethe—Homer—A Sunday Scene—What to Do—Composition—Scraps from a Lecture on Society—The Indian Axe—Friendship—Conversation—The Bluebirds—Journey to Maine—May Morning—Walden—Cliffs —Heroism—Divine Service—The Sabbath Bell—Holy War—The Loss of a Tooth—Deformity—Crickets—Sphere Music—Alma Natura—Compensation—My Boots—Speculation—Byron—Fair Haven—Scraps from an Essay on Sound and Silence—Anacreon's Ode to the Cicada—Anacreontics. CHAPTER III. 1839 (ÆT. 21-22) 71 The Thaw—The Dream Valley—Love—The Evening Wind—The Peal of the Bells—The Shrike—Morning—The Teamster—Fat Pine for Spearing—Terra Firma in Society—The Kingdoms of the Earth—The Form of Strength—My Attic—Sympathy—Annursnack—The Assabet—The Breeze's Invitation—The Week on the Concord and Merrimack—The Walk to the White Mountains—The Wise Rest—Æschylus—Growth—Despondency—Linnæus—Bravery—Noon —Scraps from a Chapter on Bravery—Friendship—Crickets. CHAPTER IV. 1840 (ÆT. 22-23) 110 The Fisher's Son—Friends—Poetry—A Tame Life—Æschylus—Truth—Duty—Beauty lives by Rhymes—Fishes—Muskrats—The Freshet—Important Events—Ornithology—Inward Poverty—Wild Ducks—The World as a Theatre for Action—Rain—Farewell, Etiquette!—War—The Beginning of the Voyage on the Concord and Merrimack—The Boat—End of the Journal of 546 Pages—Reflections—A Sonnet to Profane Swearing—Down the Concord—The Landscape through a Tumbler—Likeness and Difference—A Drum in the Night—The Inspired Body—Dullness—The Yankee Answer—Greek Philosophers—Rhythm and Harmony—Evening—Paradox—Sailing—A Stately March—Effort the Prerogative of Virtue—The True Poem—Sunrise—A Muster—The Great Ball—Fishing and Sporting—The Golden Mean—Grecian History—The Eye—True Art—Necessity—Dress—Bravery. CHAPTER V. 1841 (ÆT. 23-24) 173