Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook27 pages25 minutes
Pageant of Summer
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
I.
Green rushes, long and thick, standing up above the edge of the ditch, told the hour of the year as distinctly as the shadow on the dial the hour of the day. Green and thick and sappy to the touch, they felt like summer, soft and elastic, as if full of life, mere rushes though they were. On the fingers they left a green scent; rushes have a separate scent of green, so, too, have ferns, very different from that of grass or leaves. Rising from brown sheaths, the tall stems enlarged a little in the middle, like classical columns, and heavy with their sap and freshness, leaned against the hawthorn sprays. From the earth they had drawn its moisture, and made the ditch dry; some of the sweetness of the air had entered into their fibres, and the rushes—the common rushes—were full of beautiful summer. The white pollen of early grasses growing on the edge was dusted from them each time the hawthorn boughs were shaken by a thrush. These lower sprays came down in among the grass, and leaves and grass-blades touched. Smooth round stems of angelica, big as a gun-barrel, hollow and strong, stood on the slope of the mound, their tiers of well-balanced branches rising like those of a tree. Such a sturdy growth pushed back the ranks of hedge parsley in full white flower, which blocked every avenue and winding bird’s-path of the bank. But the “gix,” or wild parsnip, reached already high above both, and would rear its fluted stalk, joint on joint, till it could face a man. Trees they were to the lesser birds, not even bending if perched on; but though so stout, the birds did not place their nests on or against them. Something in the odour of these umbelliferous plants, perhaps, is not quite liked; if brushed or bruised they give out a bitter greenish scent. Under their cover, well shaded and hidden, birds build, but not against or on the stems, though they will affix their nests to much less certain supports. With the grasses that overhung the edge, with the rushes in the ditch itself, and these great plants on the mound, the whole hedge was wrapped and thickened. No cunning of glance could see through it; it would have needed a ladder to help any one look over.
It was between the may and the June roses. The may bloom had fallen, and among the hawthorn boughs were the little green bunches that would feed the red-wings in autumn. High up the briars had climbed, straight and towering while there was a thorn or an ash sapling, or a yellow-green willow, to uphold them, and then curving over towards the meadow. The buds were on them, but not yet open; it was between the may and the rose.
Green rushes, long and thick, standing up above the edge of the ditch, told the hour of the year as distinctly as the shadow on the dial the hour of the day. Green and thick and sappy to the touch, they felt like summer, soft and elastic, as if full of life, mere rushes though they were. On the fingers they left a green scent; rushes have a separate scent of green, so, too, have ferns, very different from that of grass or leaves. Rising from brown sheaths, the tall stems enlarged a little in the middle, like classical columns, and heavy with their sap and freshness, leaned against the hawthorn sprays. From the earth they had drawn its moisture, and made the ditch dry; some of the sweetness of the air had entered into their fibres, and the rushes—the common rushes—were full of beautiful summer. The white pollen of early grasses growing on the edge was dusted from them each time the hawthorn boughs were shaken by a thrush. These lower sprays came down in among the grass, and leaves and grass-blades touched. Smooth round stems of angelica, big as a gun-barrel, hollow and strong, stood on the slope of the mound, their tiers of well-balanced branches rising like those of a tree. Such a sturdy growth pushed back the ranks of hedge parsley in full white flower, which blocked every avenue and winding bird’s-path of the bank. But the “gix,” or wild parsnip, reached already high above both, and would rear its fluted stalk, joint on joint, till it could face a man. Trees they were to the lesser birds, not even bending if perched on; but though so stout, the birds did not place their nests on or against them. Something in the odour of these umbelliferous plants, perhaps, is not quite liked; if brushed or bruised they give out a bitter greenish scent. Under their cover, well shaded and hidden, birds build, but not against or on the stems, though they will affix their nests to much less certain supports. With the grasses that overhung the edge, with the rushes in the ditch itself, and these great plants on the mound, the whole hedge was wrapped and thickened. No cunning of glance could see through it; it would have needed a ladder to help any one look over.
It was between the may and the June roses. The may bloom had fallen, and among the hawthorn boughs were the little green bunches that would feed the red-wings in autumn. High up the briars had climbed, straight and towering while there was a thorn or an ash sapling, or a yellow-green willow, to uphold them, and then curving over towards the meadow. The buds were on them, but not yet open; it was between the may and the rose.
Unavailable
Read more from Richard Jefferies
The Post-Apocalyptic Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter London: Dystopian Classic Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Story of My Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBevis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter London or Wild England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter London (Dystopian Novel) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nature Near London Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After London Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Richard Jefferies – The Complete Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigns of Power: The Rise of Cultural Complexity in the Southeast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Future of Darkness: 30+ Dystopias in One Edition Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Field and Hedgerow: Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld's End Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRound About a Great Escape Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHolocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Lower Ohio River Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gamekeeper at Home: Sketches of Natural History and Rural Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gamekeeper at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter London; Or, Wild England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings150 SF Classics: Space Adventures, Lost Worlds, Dystopian Novels & Post-Apocalyptic Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gamekeeper at Home: Sketches of natural history and rural life (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollected Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Pageant of Summer
Related ebooks
Pageant of Summer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of the Fields Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNature Near London Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scalp Hunters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Open Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Open: Intimate Studies and Appreciations of Nature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome Summer Days in Iowa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWildwood Ways Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsField and Hedgerow: Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 60, October, 1862 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Maples Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChantemesle: A Normandy Childhood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Land of Little Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Confessions of a Poacher Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pathfinder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Life: A Love Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorth American Wild Flowers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlowering Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome Winter Days in Iowa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWake-Robin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHere on Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pathfinder: or The Inland Sea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle Of Life: “I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBones of the Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Life in a Southern County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Life Illustrated Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWake-Robin: A Collection of Essays About the Birds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lone Swallows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
General Fiction For You
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recital of the Dark Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Candy House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King James Version of the Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Pageant of Summer
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews