Already The Kingfisher Sat Upon A Pine Over
The Water, And The Bream And Pickerel Swam Below.
Thus all works
pass directly out of the hands of the architect into the hands of
Nature, to be perfected.
It was a retired and pleasant route, without houses or
travellers, except some young men who were lounging upon a bridge
in Chelmsford, who leaned impudently over the rails to pry into
our concerns, but we caught the eye of the most forward, and
looked at him till he was visibly discomfited. Not that there
was any peculiar efficacy in our look, but rather a sense of
shame left in him which disarmed him.
It is a very true and expressive phrase, "He looked daggers at
me," for the first pattern and prototype of all daggers must have
been a glance of the eye. First, there was the glance of Jove's
eye, then his fiery bolt, then, the material gradually hardening,
tridents, spears, javelins, and finally, for the convenience of
private men, daggers, krisses, and so forth, were invented. It
is wonderful how we get about the streets without being wounded
by these delicate and glancing weapons, a man can so nimbly whip
out his rapier, or without being noticed carry it unsheathed.
Yet it is rare that one gets seriously looked at.
As we passed under the last bridge over the canal, just before
reaching the Merrimack, the people coming out of church paused to
look at us from above, and apparently, so strong is custom,
indulged in some heathenish comparisons; but we were the truest
observers of this sunny day.
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