'...The mind indeed becomes contracted by dwelling only on a limited number of objects, and those all in what may be called an artificial state; while, on the contrary, it is expanded, and noble feelings are elicited, by communion with nature.
"I have been talking to
the vines," said the great Goethe after paying a
visit to the country, "and you cannot think what
beautiful things they have said to me."
Seek
nature then, my dear Annie; leave your trim
flower-garden, and your tame poultry, and wander
in the woods, admiring the poetry of forest scenery,
and watching the habits of the various creatures which people what seems to the careless observer
only one vast solitude. ...' (p.354-55)
Book IV. Rural Walks. Letter XVII.
Jane Webb Loudon (1807-58), The Lady’s Country Companion: or, How to enjoy a country life rationally, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1845.
https://ia600202.us.archive.org/
Jane Webb Loudon (1807-58), The Lady’s Country Companion: or, How to enjoy a country life rationally, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1845.
https://ia600202.us.archive.org/
Photos: TravelinaGarden
