Eave

“ Long flexible branches of ivy fell from the lower boughs of the tree, among whose glossy leaves could be seen hares and rabbits, alternating with the wild geese of ashen-gray colour, wild ducks with green heads and feathers tipped with white, pheasants with scarlet eyes and necks of changeable blue and plumage shining like burnished copper; and silver-coloured bustards, a bird of passage quite rare in our climate. ”

“ But to my heart I'll add my hand,
And give it to the Weaver.
While birds rejoice in leafy bowers,
While bees delight in opening flowers,
While corn grows green in summer showers,
I love my gallant Weaver. ”

“ But they are for something more than this; they are a defense to the eye. How this is I will explain to you. You know what the eaves of a house are for when there is no trough to the roof; they keep the rain from running down from the roof on the sides of the house. They make it drop off to the ground a little way from the house. Just so the hairy eyebrows make the sweat of the forehead drop off upon the cheek, instead of running down into the eye. The eyebrows, then, are the eaves of the roof of the eye’s house. ”

“ The lime-trees turned bright yellow and the beech bronze, but the elder-tree even blacker than it had been. The bell-flower rang with white bells, where it used to ring with blue, and the chestnut-tree blessed all the world with its five yellow fingers. The mountain-ash shed its leaves that all might admire its pretty berries; the wild rose nodded with a hundred hips; the Virginia creeper broke over the hedge in blazing flames. ”

“ AN Olive-tree taunted a Fig-tree with the loss of her leaves at a certain season of the year. “You,” she said, “lose your leaves every autumn, and are bare till the spring: whereas I, as you see, remain green and flourishing all the year round.” ”

“ Up in my hanging basket of ivy he made his bower, and sat there on the moss basking in the sunshine, as luxuriously as any gentleman in his conservatory. He was interested in the plants, and examined them daily with great care, walking over the ivy leaves, grubbing under the moss, and poking his head into the unfolding hyacinth buds to see how they got on. ”

“ Come, sweet lark and siskin small,
Blackcap, do not dally!
Swallow, thrush, come one, come all!
Spring is in the valley.
Up and down fly all day through,
Fear no wintry shadow!
Earth is green and heaven is blue,
Flowers spring in the meadow.
Singing, piping, hasten here!
Come, each tuneful darling!
Come from far and come from near,
Lapwing, stork and starling!
Then the air hummed with the beat of a thousand wings and the army of birds of passage fell like a host upon the valley. Each night the air was vocal with the passing of the birds ”

“ The starling and the lapwing, the thrush and the blackbird all migrated to the South. Every night, the sparrow heard their chirping and the fluttering of their wings in the air.
Every morning, before the sun rose, the wind tore through the forest and pulled the last leaves off the trees. Every day, the wind blew stronger, snapped [134] great branches, swept the withered leaves together into heaps, scattered them again and, at last, laid them like a soft, thick carpet over the whole floor of the forest. Here and there, a single leaf hung on a twig and resisted and refused to die. ”

“ Young sparrows that have fallen from the nests beneath the eaves are passed from hand to hand, their half-grown plumage is coloured with different tints, and at last, of course, they die of exhaustion. ”

“ Leaves in the grove keep falling.
All the trees of the forest shook from root to top, themselves not knowing why. All the [103] birds fell silent together. The stag in the glade raised his antlers in surprise and listened. The poppy’s scarlet petals flew before the wind.
But high on the mountains and on the bare hills and low down in the bog, the heather burst forth and blazed purple and glorious in the sun. And the bees flew from the faded flowers of the meadow and hid themselves in the heather-fields. ”

“ Their sheds or houses consist generally of a thatched roof raised on posts, the eaves reaching to within three or four feet of the ground; the floor is covered with soft hay, over which are laid mats, so that the whole is one cushion, on which they sit by day and sleep by night. They eat in the open air, under the shade of the nearest tree. ”

“ The oaks alone still stood with leafless branches:
"It is very distinguished to come last," they said to one another. "The king of the forest does not arrive before the whole company is assembled."
But at last they did arrive. All the leaves burst forth from the fat buds and the trees looked at one another and complimented one another on their good appearance. The little oak had grown a decent bit. ”

“ The crow’s children screamed in the tree-tops; the young eagles flew from the rock to try their [95] wings. The starling drove her first brood from the nest and laid new eggs; the frog lived to see her degenerate young grow quite respectable before she herself was swallowed by the stork.
Never had the fish swarmed so thickly in the river, never had the beech’s leaves been so broad, never had the copsewood been so dense, never had the flowers pressed so close together in the hedge.
And the Prince of Summer stood amidst his kingdom taller and straighter and more radiant than ever:
“It is well!” ”

“ As they raked the eaves in their swift flight, or skimmed sidelong past her with a rush of wind, she would sometimes stir, and sit a little up, and seem to awaken from her doze of satisfaction. But for the rest of her days she lay luxuriously folded on herself and sunk in sloth and pleasure. ”

“ But how dare the wind carry the seed of the weeds on to the farmer's land!"
"Softly, softly, you green Rye!" said the wind, who had been lying behind the hedge and had heard all this. "I ask no one's leave, but do as I please; and now I'm going to make you bow before me."
Then he blew over the young rye so that the thin stalks swayed to and fro:
"You see," he said, "the farmer looks after his rye, for that is his business. But the rain and the sun and I interest ourselves in all of you alike, without distinction of persons. To us the poor weeds are quite as attractive as the rich corn." ”

“ There was a rustle of chirruping sparrows in the green lacquer leaves of the ivy, and the blue cloud-shadows chased themselves across the grass like swallows. ”

“ The ivy leaf was a special favourite for the purpose—the broad-leaved ivy which grows against houses and in gardens—because it is stout, about the right size to double up and fold into a wad, and is available in winter, being an evergreen, when most other leaves are gone. ”

“ I was at that time like a fledgling swallow living high up in a niche in the eaves, who from time to time peeps out over the top of its nest with its little bright eyes. ”

“ The English ivy is our best evergreen vine. It is one of the few plants that can be grown successfully in rooms where there is not much direct light. Indeed, I have seen it trained across the ceiling, in German homes, where the light seemed insufficient to meet the requirements of any plant, and there its leaves were as dark in color as those of most other plants are when standing close to the glass, and seemed to be quite as healthy. ”

“ The lithe, trailing stems, wreathed with their shining, taper-fingered leaves, so exquisitely pencilled, are cushioned on the soft, feathery moss, or twine in and out amongst the Hazel stocks, or creep at will up the nearest tree trunk. One can scarcely look at Ivy on a winter's day without a [Pg 49] thrill of admiration, especially this woodland sort, for, mark it well, Nature never encourages the coarse-leaved Ivy of common cultivation within her domains. ”

“ No. 1 was sown in a cosy little garden near a cosy little cottage in the country. No. 2 was sown in a field, being intended for the market.
They both came up and made leaves, and budded and blossomed, and the first thing each did when he opened his petals was to look round for his brother.
No. 1 found himself among other Sweet-peas, but his brother was not there; and soon a beautiful girl, who came into a garden to gather a nosegay, plucked him from his stalk.
No. 2 found himself also among Peas—a field full—but they were all white ones, and had no scent whatever. ”

“ There were three nests, safely placed beneath the eaves where their builders had supposed in their hen-minds that no human being would ever come, while another adventurous fowl had lazily scooped a hole in the very centre of the mow and deposited her eggs. ”

“ As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and fall; the wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the tree up which it climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose the angles and become rounded, though growing on the same plant. Sometimes they have a grey tint, especially those that trail along the bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish brown with pale green ribs. ”

“ They are smiling o'er the silvery brooks,
And round the hamlet-fanes.
Through glowing orchards forth they peep.
Each from its nook of leaves,
And fearless there they lowly sleep,
As the bird beneath their eaves. ”

“ Yet here, this night, you might repose with me,
On green leaves pillowed: apples ripe have I,
Soft chestnuts, and of curdled milk enow.
And, see, the farm-roof chimneys smoke afar,
And from the hills the shadows lengthening fall! ”

“ Ovate, shaped like an egg, with the broader end downwards; or, in plain surfaces, such as leaves, like the section of an egg lengthwise, 52.
Ovoid, ovate or oval in a solid form.
Ovule, the body which is destined to become a seed, 14, 80, 105, 110.
Ovuliferous, ovule-bearing.
Palate, a projection of the lower lip of a labiate corolla into the throat, as in Snapdragon, &c.
Palea (plural paleæ) , chaff; the inner husks of Grasses; the chaff or bracts on the receptacle of many Compositæ, as Coreopsis, and Sunflower. ”

“ The sun is bright on the stubble and the corners of furze; there are bees humming yonder, no doubt, and flowers, and hares crouching—the dew dried from around them long since, and waiting for it to fall again; partridges, too, corn-ricks, and the roof of a farmhouse by them. Lit with sunlight are the fields, warm autumn garnering all that is dear to the heart of man, blue heaven above—how sweet the wind comes from these!—the sweeter for the knowledge of the profound abyss behind. ”

“ Only down in the pond, in the generous spaces of amber water beneath the ice-roof, life went on busily and securely. The wind might rage unbridled, the cold might lay its hand of death heavily on forest and hill; but the beavers in their unseen retreat knew nothing of it. ”

“ Her hair is bound with myrtle leaves,
(Green leaves upon her golden hair!)
Green grasses through the yellow sheaves
Of autumn corn are not more fair. ”

“ Outside the trees dragged their leaves like nets through the depths of the air; the sound of water was in the room, and through the waves came the voices of birds singing. ”

“ Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.
Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own ”

“ Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread;
The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day. ”

“ The shadows of leaves fall upon their arms, as they spread the branches apart, but their shoulders are in the sun. The skin of their arms is like a blue mist, but their shoulders are white and glowing, as if the light fell not from above, but rose from under their skin. We watch the leaf which has fallen upon their shoulder, and it lies at the curve of their neck, and a drop of dew glistens upon it like a jewel. ”

“ The season developed and matured. Another year’s instalment of flowers, leaves, nightingales, thrushes, finches, and such ephemeral creatures, took up their positions where only a year ago others had stood in their place when these were nothing more than germs and inorganic particles. Rays from the sunrise drew forth the buds and stretched them into long stalks, lifted up sap in noiseless streams, opened petals, and sucked out scents in invisible jets and breathings. ”

“ The planted seed consigned to common earth,
Disdains to moulder with the baser clay;
But rises up to meet the light of day,
Spreads all its leaves, and flowers, and tendrils forth;
And, bathed and ripened in the genial ray,
Pours out its perfume on the wandering gales,
Till in that fragrant breath its life exhales. ”

“ Aloft with time-bronzed brows searéd and old,
And heavenward fling their nodding peaks on high:
The breezy zephyrs rush careering free;
The eagle waves his wing of liberty.
Here Nature reigns in grand sublimity ”

“ Abides for ever! Evermore the wind
Is thy august companion; and thy peers
Are cloud, and thunder, and the face sublime
Of blue mid-heaven! On thy awful brow
Is Deity; and in that voice of thine
There is the great imperial utterance
Of God for ever; and thy feet are set
Where evermore, through all the days and years,
There rolls the grand hymn of the deathless wave.
Araluen
Take this rose, and very gently place it on the tender, deep
Mosses where our little darling, Araluen, lies asleep. ”

“ Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee? ”