Susanna Moodie

Name: Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow
Author: Susanna Moodie

Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

Summary

“Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow”, is a work by Susanna Moodie. It explores elements such as fallow, flames and blaze.

Quotes from Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow (Susanna Moodie)

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ But when the dark cedar-swamp fronting the house fell beneath the strokes of the axe, and we got a first view of the lake, my joy was complete; a new and beautiful object was now constantly before me, which gave me the greatest pleasure. By night and day, in sunshine or in storm, water is always the most sublime feature in a landscape, and no view can be truly grand in which it is wanting. From a child, it always had the most powerful effect upon my mind, from the great ocean rolling in majesty, to the tinkling forest rill, hidden by the flowers and rushes along its banks. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage might have been burnt through to the water. I saw nothing but a dense cloud of fire and smoke—could hear nothing but the crackling and roaring of the flames, which were gaining so fast upon us that I felt their scorching breath in my face.
"Ah," thought I—and it was a most bitter thought—"what will my beloved husband say when he returns and finds that his poor Susy and his dear girls have perished in this miserable manner? But God can save us yet." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ The next evening brought the return of my husband, who listened to the tale of our escape with a pale and disturbed countenance; not a little thankful to find his wife and children still in the land of the living.
For a long time after the burning of that fallow, it haunted me in my dreams. I would awake with a start, imagining myself fighting with the flames, and endeavouring to carry my little children through them to the top of the clearing, when invariably their garments and my own took fire just as I was within reach of a place of safety. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ BURNING THE FALLOW
There is a hollow roaring in the air—
The hideous hissing of ten thousand flames,
That from the centre of yon sable cloud
Leap madly up, like serpents in the dark,
Shaking their arrowy tongues at Nature's heart. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ There was no hope in that quarter, for, could we have escaped the flames, we should have been blinded and choked by the thick, black, resinous smoke.
The fierce wind drove the flames at the sides and back of the house up the clearing; and our passage to the road, or to the forest, on the right and left, was entirely obstructed by a sea of flames. Our only ark of safety was the house, so long as it remained untouched by the consuming element. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ The confusion of an uncleared fallow spread around us on every side. Huge trunks of trees and piles of brush gave a littered and uncomfortable appearance to the locality, and as the weather had been very dry for some weeks, I heard my husband daily talking with his choppers as to the expediency of firing the fallow. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ The children were lying listlessly upon the floor for coolness, and the girl and I were finishing sun-bonnets, when Mary suddenly exclaimed, "Bless us, mistress, what a smoke!" I ran immediately to the door, but was not able to distinguish ten yards before me. The swamp immediately below us was on fire, and the heavy wind was driving a dense black cloud of smoke directly towards us.
"What can this mean?" I cried, "Who can have set fire to the fallow?" ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ I felt comforted for my past anxiety, by knowing that one human being, however humble, had sympathised in our probable fate, while the providential manner in which we had been rescued will ever remain a theme of wonder and gratitude. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ I threw myself down upon the floor beside them, and pressed them alternately to my heart, while inwardly I thanked God that they were asleep, unconscious of danger, and unable by their childish cries to distract our attention from adopting any plan which might offer to effect their escape. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow

“ A late, cold spring in Canada is generally succeeded by a burning hot summer; and the summer of '34 was the hottest I ever remember. No rain fell upon the earth for many weeks, till nature drooped and withered beneath one bright blaze of sunlight; and the ague and fever in the woods, and the cholera in the large towns and cities, spread death and sickness through the country.
Moodie had made during the winter a large clearing of twenty acres around the house. ”

Susanna Moodie

Summary

Quotes from Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XVI: Burning the Fallow (Susanna Moodie)

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