Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/19

 CHAPTER I

THOREAU'S CONCORD AND ITS ENVIRONS

HOREAU and Concord are interdependent words; either suggests its complement. The meadows, cliffs and wooded hills, the interlinked streams, which form the specific landscape of this region, have been stamped by Thoreau's personal, even proprietary, seal. In early recognition of this mystic bond he wrote,—"Almost I believe the Concord would not rise and overflow its banks again, were I not here." If Thoreau's writings are photographs of the town and its contiguous scenery, his name and memory, in turn, are vivified on many a local shrine. The visitor to Concord to-day, even as he leaves the station, is attracted by the sign, "Thoreau Street." The larger hotel preserves a part of the ancestral home of Thoreau's family and until recently, this name has been above its lintel. In Thoreau's journal, mention is made of seven different houses where his family lived at sundry periods, and one is tempted to pause before any residence of suggestive aspect and inquire, "Did Thoreau once 3