Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/238

 214 GOLDEN AGE OF ACHIEVEMENT. [1850,

fall. To succeed in letting only one thing alone in a winter morning, if it be only one poor frozen-thawed apple that hangs on a tree, what a glorious achievement ! Methinks it lightens through the dusky universe. What an infinite wealth we have discovered ! God reigns, i. e., when we take a liberal view, when a liberal view is presented us.

Let God alone if need be. Methinks, if I loved him more, I should keep him, I should keep myself rather, at a more respectful dis tance. It is not when I am going to meet him, but when I am just turning away and leaving him alone, that I discover that God is. I say, God. I am not sure that that is the name. You will know whom I mean.

If for a moment we make way with our petty selves, wish no ill to anything, apprehend no ill, cease to be but as the crystal which reflects a ray, what shall we not reflect ! What a universe will appear crystallized and radiant around us !

I should say, let the Muse lead the Muse, let the understanding lead the understanding, though in any case it is the farthest forward which leads them both. If the Muse accompany, she is no muse, but an amusement. The Muse should lead like a star which is very far off ; but that does not imply that we are to follow