Yet in all this seeming death lies hidden the life of myriads of
insects, the huge beast of the forest asleep in his lair, with many of the
smaller quadrupeds and forest-birds, that, hushed in lonely places, shall
awake to life and activity as soon as the sun-beams once more dissolve the
snow, unbind the frozen streams, and loosen the bands which held them in
repose.
At last the spring, the glad, joyous spring, returned. The leaf-buds,
wrapped within their gummy and downy cases, began to unfold; the dark
green pines, spruce, and balsams began to shoot out fresh spiny leaves,
like tassels, from the ends of every bough, giving out the most refreshing
fragrance; the crimson buds of the young hazels and the scarlet blossoms
of the soft maple enlivened the edges of the streams; the bright coral
bark of the dogwood seemed as if freshly varnished, so brightly it glowed
in the morning sunshine; the scream of the blue jay, the song of the robin
and woodthrush, the merry note of the chiccadee and plaintive cry of the
pheobe, with loud hammering strokes of the great red-headed woodpecker,
mingled with the rush of the unbound forest streams, gurgling and
murmuring as their water flowed over their stones, and the sighing of the
breeze playing in the tree tops, made pleasant and ceaseless music.
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