Page:Autumn. From the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau.djvu/238

224 Thy steady light on't' other side Pales the sunset, makes day abide, And after sunrise, stays the dawn, Forerunner of a brighter morn.

When others laugh, I am not glad, When others cry, I am not sad.

I am a miser without blame, Am conscience-stricken without shame, An idler am I without leisure, A busybody without pleasure. I did not think so bright a day Would issue in so dark a night, I did not think such sober play Would leave me in so sad a plight, And I should be most sorely spent, When first I was most innocent. I thought by loving all beside, To prove to you my love was wide, And by the rites I soared above, To show you my peculiar love.

Nov. 7, 1853. Three bluebirds still braving the cold winds, Acton Blues. Their blue uniform makes me think of soldiers who have received orders to keep the field and not go into winter quarters.

A muskrat's house on the top of a rock; [the soil?] too thin round the sides for a passage beneath, yet a small cavity at top, which makes me think they use them merely as a sheltered perch above water. They seize thus many