Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/321

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THE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.


The love of the beautiful is of celestial origin. It is the holy offspring of an affection for the good and true. The myriad phases of earthly beauty that spring up in life's humblest pathways, are visible symbols of the infinite, ineffable beauty of diviner spheres. How affluent is the exuberant earth in revelations of loveliness! They burst into life beneath our feet, in

"The bright mosaics that with storied beauty
The floor of Nature's temple tesselate"—

they beat the air with iris-tinted pinions above our heads, stretch out enchanting vistas before our eyes, dance on the crest of the impetuous waterfall, slumber upon the bosom of the tranquil stream, gaze at their own images in the mirror of the glassy lake, look down from the effulgent stars, unfurl their orient-hued banners at the waving of Aurora's hand, shoot their meteoric lights before wondering eyes, arch the prismatic bow in the blue canopy above, start into life whenever Nature

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