Many animals as connected with the gods, or
with sacrifices, were sacred beings to them, and became subjects of
their surpassing gift in sculpture. In general, nature,--the visible,
the sensible, the actual, was to the Hellenic soul, Religion; as inward
and reflective emotions were and are, to the modern European.
[Footnote 55: A young writer of great cultivation and of uncommon
promise. His premature death occurred while on a tour in Europe. A
native of Philadelphia.]
* * * * *
=_Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862._= (Manual, p. 532.)
From "Autumnal Tints."
=_231._= DESCRIPTION OF "POKE" OR GARGET, (_Phytolacca Decandra_.)
Some which stand under our cliffs quite dazzle me with their purple
stems now, and early in September. They are as interesting to me as most
flowers, and one of the most important fruits of our autumn. Every part
is flower, (or fruit,) such is its superfluity of color,--stem,
branch, peduncle, pedicel, petiole, and even the at length yellowish
purple-veined leaves. Its cylindrical racemes of berries of various
hues, from green to dark purple, six or seven inches long, are
gracefully drooping on all sides, offering repasts to the birds; and
even the sepals from which the birds have picked the berries are a
brilliant lake-red, with crimson, flame-like reflections, equal to
anything of the kind,--all on fire with ripeness.
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