Preview
Circa Date
circa 1887
Transcription
136
[The leafy] dogwoods, alders and maples in front of them towering erect far into the sunlight
In front of these] [fringing their brown holes and arching out over the stream the green leafy alders & maples & dogwoods. Then a closer fringe of] willows fringing [&] azaleas & [tufted] sedges [&] daises [&] columbines [&] saxifrages [making a lovely border on the immediate bank, & the rushing stream in the midst of it all] with its multitude of voices making melody that song following the leafy arches of the river will sound in me forever.
And the flow & rush & glad exulting onsweeping current like a living creature caressing the dipping sedge-leaves & bushes & mossy stones on their [its] banks, swirling in [deep] pools dividing against little flowery islands bouncing and breaking gray and white here & there [into rough crystal foam bouncing onward], ever [glad &] rejoicing, yet with deep solemn undertones [fateful & awful] recalling the ocean. The blessed little bird that seems a part of it all confiding & gentle diving in the swiftest whirls & rapids singing with sweet human voice among
137
the waltzing [dancing] foam bells & like a little Evangel explaining that all is Gods love. Another fine memory
Transpose
((And that white deep bass sounding fall [is another fine picture to carry away)) Trans, not one of those sublime Yosemite falls coming out of the sky with voice of thunder shaking the (granite) foundations of the cliffs, beaten shattered & unapproachable but compact & self contained keep its white [snowy] skirts well about it, the black bulging rock jaws on either side shining with [showers of] spray & tufted & rosetted with sedge & sedum, the pool at the bottom gray on the side where it is churned by the massy entering flood, [dark] blue on the other side & sprinkled with drifting foambells; ferns & nodding lilies leaning forward around its margin [edge] & my big mossy bed bowlder facing the fall in the middle of the outflowing current, while the air about it & the flowers & the leaves kept [ever sweet &] fresh with the [lightest of the outwafting] dust of the spray, [the particles almost too fine to be seen, millions of them required to make one of the gem-drops]
Date Occurred
1869
Resource Identifier
MuirReel31 Notebook05 Img073.jpg
Contributing Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
To view additional information on copyright and related rights of this item, such as to purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish them, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
