Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v3.djvu/129

Ik Marvel m lead into paths of wintry regret. We find even December logic taking on a golden hue in such a sentence as this from the Reveries: "Affliction has tempered joy, and joy adorned affliction. Life and all its troubles have become distilled into a holy incense rising ever from your fireside — ian offering to your household Gods. " "And what if age comes ' ' — Mitchell writes further on, in the vein of Browning's Rabbi Ben Ezra — "what else proves the wine? It is but retreating towards the pure sky depths." The note of joy in the springtime of life, the accent of sympathy for young griefs as well as young loves, echo from these charming pages; while the ingenuousness of Ik Marvel's sentiments is embedded in an old-fashioned form of sentimental phraseology which brings a smile to the lips of the sophisticated critic. But after all it is the smile in the reader's heart that attests the lasting human appeal of both the Reveries and Dream Life. These books were written while their author was still in his twenties, and they have the immaturity, both of technique and philosophy, which precedes the labour of the craftsman and the experiences of the man ; yet they have also, with the aroma of youth, that even subtler fragrance — the gift of the gods to all who comprehend the value of the dreaming hour. There are two elements in these works secondary in interest only to the major themes of love, sorrow, and ambition. One is the immediate affection for nature, nowhere more beautifully expressed than in this springtime picture: "The dandelions lay along the hillocks like stars in a sky of green." The other note is of love for old books. These themes are repeatedly found in Mitchell's later writings; and My Farm of Edgewood (1863) — Edgewood was his country home near New Haven — ^began a series of volumes among the earliest of a steadily increasing department of American literature revolving around agricultural and rural themes. Mitchell's own experiences with the soil of his native Con- necticut are,in My Farm of Edgewood, recounted with the serious- ness of the scientific farmer and the grace of the man of letters. In Wet Days at Edgewood (1865) his pleasant discourse ranges from ancient country poets to the latest practical studies of soil cultivation ; while in the yet later volume Rural Studies, with Hints for Country Places (1867) he continues in confidential