Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
67
XXIV.
Morning
after
morning,
of
late,
I
have
taken
my
walk
in
the
same
direction,
my
purpose
being
to
look
at
a
plantation
of
young
larches.
There
is
no
lovelier
colour
on
earth
than
that
in
which
they
are
now
clad;
it
seems
to
refresh
as
well
as
gladden
my
eyes,
and
its
influence
sinks
deep
into
my
heart.
Too
soon
it
will
change;
already
I
think
the
first
radiant
verdure
has
begun
to
pass
into
summer's
soberness.
The
larch
has
its
moment
of
unmatched
beauty--and
well
for
him
whose
chance
permits
him
to
enjoy
it,
spring
after
spring.
Could
anything
be
more
wonderful
than
the
fact
that
here
am
I,
day
by
day,
not
only
at
leisure
to
walk
forth
and
gaze
at
the
larches,
but
blessed
with
the
tranquillity
of
mind
needful
for
such
enjoyment?
On
any
morning
of
spring
sunshine,
how
many
mortals
find
themselves
so
much
at
peace
that
they
are
able
to
give
themselves
wholly
to
delight
in
the
glory
of
heaven
and
of
earth?
Is
it
the
case
with
one
man
in
every
fifty
thousand?
Consider
what
extraordinary
kindness
of
fate
must
tend
upon
one,
that
not
a
care,
not
a
preoccupation,
should
interfere
with
his
contemplative
thought
for
five
or
six
days
successively!
So
rooted
in
the
human
mind
(and
so
reasonably
rooted)
is
the
belief
in
an
Envious
Power,
that
I
ask
myself
whether
I
shall
not
have
to
pay,
by
some
disaster,
for
this
period
of
sacred
calm.
For
a
week
or
so
I
have
been
one
of
a
small
number,
chosen
out
of
the
whole
human
race
by
fate's
supreme
benediction.
It
may
be
that
this
comes
to
every
one
in
turn;
to
most,
it
can
only
be
once
in
a
lifetime,
and
so
briefly.
That
my
own
lot
seems
so
much
better
than
that
of
ordinary
men,
sometimes
makes
me
fearful.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
