esh mountain air, among a sturdy and
uncorrupted people, far away from the hurly-burly of the world, its cares
and its struggles, its opinion and its censure, how blissfully we could
await the close of life, and silently fade away like the evening-red!
Then I pictured the dark lake, with the dancing shimmer of waves, and the
clear shadows of distant glaciers reflected in it; I heard the lowing of
cattle and the songs of the herdsmen; I saw the hunters with their rifles
crossing the mountains, and the old and young gathering together at
twilight in the village; and, to crown all, I saw her passing along like
an angel of peace in benediction, and I was her guide and friend. "Poor
fool!" I cried out, "poor fool! Is thy heart always to be so wild and so
weak? Be a man. Think who thou art, and how far thou art from her. She
is a friend. She gladly reflects herself in another's soul, but her
childlike trust and candor at best only show that no deeper feeling lives
in her breast for thee. Hast thou not, on many a clear summer's night,
wandering alone, through the beech groves, seen how the moon sheds its
light upon all the branches and leaves, how it brightens the dark, dull
water of the pool and reflects itself clearly in the smallest drops? In
like manner she shines upon this dark life, and thou may'st feel her
gentle radiance reflected in thy heart--but hope not for a warmer glow!"

Suddenly an image approached me as it were from life; she stood before
me, not like a memory but as a vision, and I realized for the first time
how beautiful she was. It was not that beauty of form and face which
dazzles us at the first sight of a lovely maiden, and then fades away as
suddenly as a blossom in spring. It was much more the harmony of her
whole being, the reality of every emotion, the spirituality of
expression, the perfect union of body and soul which blesses him so who
looks upon it. The beauty which nature lavishes so prodigally does not
bring any satisfaction, if the person is not adapted to it and as it were
deserves and overcomes it. On the other hand, it is offensive, as when
we look upon an actress striding along the stage in queenly costume, and
notice at every step how poorly the attire fits her, how little it
becomes her. True beauty is sweetness, and sweetness is the
spiritualizing of the gross, the corporeal and the earthly. It is the
spiritual presence which transforms ugliness into beauty. The more I
lo