In general, as we saw
before, the building will bear some fantastic finishing, that is, if it
be entangled in forest; but, if among massive groups of trees, separated
by smooth sward, it must be kept simple.
91. II. The Cultivated, or blue, Country. This is the rich champaign
land, in which large trees are more sparingly scattered, and which is
chiefly devoted to the purposes of agriculture. In this we are
perpetually getting blue distances from the slightest elevation, which
are rendered more decidedly so by their contrast with warm corn or
plowed fields in the foreground. Such is the greater part of England.
The view from the hills of Malvern is a good example. In districts of
this kind, all is change; one year's crop has no memory of its
predecessor; all is activity, prosperity, and usefulness: nothing is
left to the imagination; there is no obscurity, no poetry, no nonsense:
the colors of the landscape are bright and varied; it is thickly
populated, and glowing with animal life. Here, then, the character of
the cottage must be cheerfulness; its colors may be vivid: white is
always beautiful; even red tiles are allowable, and red bricks
endurable. Neatness will not spoil it: the angle of its roof may be
acute, its windows sparkling, and its roses red and abundant; but it
must not be ornamented nor fantastic, it must be evidently built for the
uses of common life, and have a matter-of-fact business-like air about
it.
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