Then even the unattractive crow seems
half sacred, through the winter bearing messages of promise from the
perished autumn to the advancing spring--this dark forerunner of the
tuneful tribes which are to come. We feel a longing for fresh, green
nature, and so in the shelter of our houses keep some little Aaron's
rod, budding alike with promise and memory; or in some hyacinth or
Dutchman's tulip we keep a prophecy of flowers, and start off some
little John to run before, and with his half-gospel tell of some great
Emmanuel, and signify to men that the kingdom of heavenly beauty is near
at hand. Now that forerunner disappears, for the desire of all nations
has truly come; the green grass is creeping everywhere, and it is
spangled with many flowers that came unasked....
What if there was a spring time of blossoming but once in a hundred
years! How would men look forward to it, and old men, who had beheld its
wonders, tell the story to their children, how once all the homely trees
became beautiful, and earth was covered with freshness and new growth!
How would young men hope to become old, that they might see so glad a
sight! And when beheld, the aged man would say, "Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
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