 | Studies of Nature |  |
OF CONCERTS.
Concert is an order formed of several harmonies of various kinds. It differs from simple order in this, that the last is frequently nothing but a series of harmonies of the same species.
Every particular work of Nature presents, in different kinds,
In our temperate regions most of the birds are dull-coloured, because our vegetables have flowers and fruits with shining colours: our lively coloured birds and insects usually choose for their habitation vegetables that have no apparent flowers. Thus the heath-cock glitters on the gray verdure of the pine, whose apples serve him for food; and the goldfinch builds his nest in the rough fuller's-thistle. On the contrary, birds of dusky hue inhabit shrubbery with gay-coloured flowers. The black-headed bullfinch builds his nest in the white thorn, and that lovely bird exhibits a farther consonance and contrast with the prickly shrub where he resides, by his blood-stained breast and sweet song. The nightingale with brown plumage delights to nestle in the rose-bush, according to the traditions of the oriental poets, who have sung the loves of that melancholy bird for the rose.
If to each plant are added its elementary harmonies, as those of the season when it appears, of the soil in which it vegetates, the effects of the dews, and the reflexes of the light on its foliage, the movements it undergoes from the action of the winds, its contrasts and consonances with other plants, and with quadrupeds, birds, and insects peculiar to it, and a delightful concert will be formed, the harmonies of which are still unknown to us. By pursuing this track alone we can obtain a glimpse of the magnificent edifice of Nature. I would entreat naturalists, persons fond of gardening, painters, nay poets, thus to prosecute their studies, and to take frequent draughts from this perennial spring of taste and delight.
I know not at present what name I ought to give to the conformities those particular concerts have with man. Certain it is, that every work of Nature strengthens its particular concert by the habitation of man, and communicates to it some expression of grandeur, gayety, terror, or majesty. She raises the physical character of her works to a sublime
To express, for example, the maleficent character of a venomous plant, she combines in it clashing oppositions of forms and colours, the indications of that maleficence; as retreating and bristly forms, livid colours, dark greens with white and black spots, virulent smells.....But when a whole district is to be characterized as unwholesome, she collects a multitude of similar dissonances. The air is loaded with thick fogs, the turbid waters exhale only nauseous smells, no vegetable thrives on the putrid soil but such as are disgusting, the dracunculus, for instance, the flower of which exhibits the form, the colour, and the smell of an ulcer. The yew-tree only arises in the cloudy atmosphere, whose red trunk and gloomy foliage serves as an asylum to owls. If any animal seeks a retreat under its lurid shade, it is the blood-coloured centipede, or the toad crawling over the humid and rotten ground. By these, or similar signs, Nature scares man away from noxious situations.
If she intends to give him at sea the signal of an impending tempest, as she has opposed in ferocious animals the fiery glare of the eye to the thickness of the eyebrows; their stripes and spots to the yellow colour of their skin, and the stillness of their movements to the thundering noise of their voices; she collects also in the sky and on the deep many clashing oppositions, which in concert announce approaching devastation. Dark clouds sweep through the air in the most horrible forms; here and there the pale fire of lightning bursts from the gloom; the noise of thunder from their dark womb resounds like the roaring of the celestial lion. The orb of day, scarcely visible through their rainy and multiplied veils, emits long radiations of a wan and sickly light. The leaden surface of the ocean sinks and swells into broad and white foaming surges. A hollow murmuring noise seems to issue from those threatening billows. The black shallows whiten at a distance, with horrid sounds, from time to time interrupted by ominous silence. The sea, which alternately covers and reveals them, displays to the light of day their
Nature uniformly proportions the signs of destruction to the magnitude of the danger. Every storm has its peculiar character in particular latitudes; those of summer are unlike those of winter; and widely different is the spectacle of an enraged sea, shining at noonday under the rays of the sun, and that of the same sea illuminated, at the midnight hour, by a single flash of lightning. Nature frequently accompanies the signs of the disorder which agitates the ocean, with agreeable expressions of harmony, that serve only to redouble the horror of the scene. Tempests, off the Capes of Good Hope and Horn, in the full blaze of light, are inexpressibly tremendous. The soul stands aghast at sight of the indications of tranquillity converted into those of storm; the unclouded azure in the heavens, and the rainbow playing upon the waves. The principles of harmony appear to be completely inverted. Nature seems to have put on a character of perfidiousness, and to conceal fury under the mask of benevolence.
If Nature, by introducing certain agreeable harmonies into scenes of discord, redoubles their confusion, she frequently throws in a discordance in concerts the most delightful, for the purpose of heightening the pleasurable effect. She employs offensive contrasts only to chase man from some perilous situation. In all the rest of her works she employs only harmonic mediums.
In our harvest fields we find that charming shade of green, produced by the alliance of the two primordial opposite colours, the yellow and the blue. This harmonic colour decompounds itself by another metamorphosis, toward the harvest time,
The corn-plant itself has relations innumerable with the wants of man and domestic animals. It is neither too high nor too low for his stature, but is easily handled and reaped. It furnishes grain to his poultry, bran to his pigs, forage and litter to his black cattle and horses. Every plant in his corn-field possesses virtues particularly adapted to the maladies incident to the condition of the labouring man. The poppy cures the pleurisy, procures sleep, stops hemorrhages and spitting of blood. The bluebottle is diuretic, vulnerary, cordial, and cooling, an antidote to the stings of venomous insects, and a remedy for inflammation of the eyes. Thus the husbandman finds all needful pharmacy in the field which he cultivates.
The culture of this staff of life discloses to man many other agreeable concerts with his fleeting existence. The direction of its shadow informs him of the hour of the day; from its growth he learns the rapid flight of the seasons; he reckons the flux of his own fugitive years, by the succession of the guiltless harvests he has reaped. He is haunted with no apprehension, like the inhabitants of great cities, of conjugal infidelity, or a too numerous posterity. His labours are always surpassed by the benefits of Nature. When the sun gets to the sign of Virgo, he summons his kindred, invites his neighbours, and leads them, at dawn of day, with sickle in hand, to the ripened field. His heart exults with joy as he binds up the swelling sheaves, while his children dance around him, crowned with garlands of bluebottles and wild poppies. The harmless play recalls to his memory the amusements of his own early days, and of his virtuous ancestors, whom he hopes at length to rejoin in a better and happier world. The sight of his copious harvest demonstrates that there is a GOD; and every return of that joyous season, bringing to his recollection the delicious eras of his past existence, inspires him with gratitude to the Great Being who
Ye flowery meadows, ye majestic, murmuring forests, ye mossy fountains, ye desert rocks, frequented by the dove alone, ye enchanting solitudes, which charm by your ineffable concerts; happy is the man who shall be permitted to unveil your hidden beauties! but happier far is he who shall have it in his power calmly to enjoy them in the inheritance of his forefathers!
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