'Those desert places uncheered by the rays of the sun, those frozen abysses deprived of all verdure, hide beneath their sterile sands invaluable treasures, which defy the rigour of the seasons and all the injuries of time! 'Tis in dark and marshy recesses, upon the damp grottos, that crystal rocks are formed. Thus splendour is diffused through their melancholy vaults, and their shadowy depths gutter with the colours of the rainbow. O Nature, how various are thy operations, how infinite thy fertility!' We cannot agree with Frey[1] that 'these few strophes may serve as sufficient proof that Haller's poetry is still, even among the mass of Alpine poetry, unsurpassed for intense power of direct vision, and easily makes one forget its partial lack of flexibility of diction.' The truth is, flexibility is entirely lacking; but the lines do express the taste for open-air life among the great sublimities and with simple people. The poem is not romantic but idyllic, with a touch of the elegiac. It is the same with the poem _On the Origin of Evil_ (Book I.): On those still heights whence constant springs flow down, I paused within a copse, lured by the evening breeze; Wide country lay spread out beneath my feet, Bounded by its own size alone.... Green woods covered the hills, through which the pale tints of the fields Shone pleasantly. Abundance and repose held sway far as the eye could reach.... And yonder wood, what left it to desire With the red tints upon the half-bare beeches And the rich pine's green shade o'er whitened moss? While many a sun-ray through the interstices A quivering light upon the darkness shed, Blending in varying hues green night with golden day How pleasant is the quiet of the copse! ... Yea, all I see is given by Providence, The world itself is for its burgher's joy; Nature's inspired with the general weal, The highest goodness shews its trace in all. Friedrich von Hagedorn, too, praises country pleasures in _The Feeling of Spring_: Enamelled meadows! freshly decked in green, I sing your praises constantly; Nature and Spring have decked you out.... Delightful quiet, stimulant of joy, How enviable thou art! This idyllic taste for country life was common at the time, especially among the so-called 'anacreontists.' Gleim, for instance, in his _Praise of Country Life_: 'Thank God that I have fled from the bustle of the world and am myself again under the open sky.' And in _The Countryman_: How happy is he who, free from cares, ploughs his father's fields; every morning the sun shines on the grass in which he lies. And Joh. Friedrich von Cronegk: Fly from sordid cares and the proud tumult of cities ... here in the peaceful valley shy wisdom sports at ease, where the smiling Muse crowns herself with dewy roses. With this idyllic tone it is not surprising to find the religious feeling of many hymn writers; for instance, Gleim in _The Goodness of God_: