It is a natural consequence of this arrangement, to render the moon's light the most beneficial to us, by giving it to us in greatest abundance, when we have least of the sun's light, and giving it to us most sparingly, when the sun's light is greatest. Thus, during the long nights of Winter, the full moon runs high, and continues a very long time above the horizon; while in mid-summer, the full moon runs low, and is above the horizon for a much shorter period. This arrangement operates very favorably to the inhabitants of the polar regions. At the season when the sun is absent, and they have constant night, then the moon, during the second and third quarters, embracing the season of full moon, is continually above the horizon, compensating in no small degree for the absence of the sun; while, during the Summer months, when the sun is constantly above the horizon, and the light of the moon is not needed, then she is above the horizon during the first and last quarters, when her light is least, affording at that time her greatest light to the inhabitants of the other hemisphere, from whom the sun is withdrawn. About the time of the Autumnal equinox, the moon, when near her full, rises about sunset a number of nights in succession. This occasions a remarkable number of brilliant moonlight evenings; and as this is, in England, the period of harvest, the phenomenon is called the _harvest moon_. Its return is celebrated, particularly among the peasantry, by festive dances, and kept as a festival, called the _harvest home_,--an occasion often alluded to by the British poets. Thus Henry Kirke White: "Moon of harvest, herald mild Of plenty, rustic labor's child, Hail, O hail! I greet thy beam, As soft it trembles o'er the stream, And gilds the straw-thatch'd hamlet wide, Where innocence and peace reside; 'Tis thou that glad'st with joy the rustic throng, Promptest the tripping dance, th' exhilarating song."