Such toils are wholesome. One cannot afford to dispense with their
income of vigor. Then they fill the days with varied business, the mind
gliding from head to hands, from hands to head, in pleasing interludes,
to pour for him so deep a draught of Lethe, and so refreshing, that the
morning breaks only to release the sleeper to begin anew his labors with
the old enthusiasm. Even the stiffness of his fatigues promotes
rectitude and probity of carriage: his hearty affection for his pursuit,
shedding lustre on all he takes in hand. His garden is ever charming,
always opportune. He walks there at all hours, at sunrise, noon,
nightfall, finding more than he sought in it, each successive visit
being as new as the first.
"All living things," says the Bhagavad Gita, "are generated from the
bread they eat; bread is generated from rain, rain from divine worship,
and divine worship from good works." A creed dealing thus
supersensibly with the elements must have fertilizing properties, and
bring the gardener to his task little tinctured by noxious notions of
any kind. If he fall short of being the reverent naturalist, the devout
divine, surrounded thus by shapes of skill, types of beauty, tokens of
design, every hue in the chromatic, every device in the symbolic gamut,
I see not what shall make him these; nor why Newton, Goethe, Boëhme,
should have published their discoveries for his benefit; why it should
occur to him to use his eyes at all when he looks through this glass,
regards these signatures, views these blooms, these clasping tendrils,
laughing leaves, Tyrian draperies, the sympathies of his plants and
trees with the weather, their sleep, their thirst for the mists, and
worship of the East; as if
Moistures their mothers were,
Their fathers flames,
and earth were virtually "wife of heaven," as Homer says.
His is no mere cloud tillage, nor unproductive earth culture. The
firmament overhead reflects its lustre in his mind, the mists ascend
there from the watered ground beneath, and he sows the mingled sense and
sunshine over his fields, enriching both them and himself. He takes
account of the double harvest of profits: both rewarding him for his
pleasures and painstakings. His faithful counsellor and genial moralist,
the ground, holds strict terms with him; nor weeds nor nettles have
tales to tell, since they cannot thrive under his shadow. He minds his
proper affairs; is industrious, punctual; home keeper, and time keeper
no less, taking his tasks diligently as they rise. His work begins with
the spring, and continues till winter; nor has he many spare minutes;
the slipping away of twelve hours being the loss of a twelvemonth,
unless he do that instantly which ought to be done at the moment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account