Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/258

274 since; and that my desert wandering had its hidden meaning and purpose, God be praised!

Towards the close of February, spring commenced in real earnest, and then with a power and beauty which surpassed all my imaginings of what it would be, and which attuned my soul to a perpetual thanksgiving song. The fields became all at once verdant and covered with flowers, (for during the short winter the grass has not time to become yellow and die, as it does in the north,) and an indescribably living murmur of rushing streams, and cheerful children's voices, of singing birds and insects, arose in the calm, sunlit air, from earth towards heaven. The snowy diadem melted from the lofty Dôle, on the Jura chain, and the crimson glow of morning and evening shone with inimitable clearness and splendor above it. Leman lay tranquil as a mirror, and in the evenings, the fiery column of the setting sun sank into its clear bosom, seeming to penetrate far down into its depths—add to this, the air was as fresh, as pure, as light, as the breath of a child.

It seemed to me, as if earth were preparing itself for the visit of a god; and even I stood as if in a state of expectant waiting, as for something unusual which was about to happen. Nothing happened, however; nothing except la bise is entered in my diary, but not altogether conformably with truth, because the north-wind came indeed, and put an end to the enchanting scene, but this spring, nevertheless, was blessed to me from the quiet growth of my own spiritual life; and from the acquaintance of several