What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
Willa CatherRead
The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of the blue sky in it.
Interpretation
This quote beautifully captures the essence of spring, portraying the interconnectedness of the air, earth, and sunlight in a vivid, sensory experience.
Willa Cather's quote evokes the vibrant and rejuvenating atmosphere of spring, illustrating how the various elements of nature—the air, earth, and sunlight—come together to create a rich tapestry of sensations. The imagery of the soil, sunlight, and scents illustrates the transformative power of the season, inviting readers to fully immerse themselves in the beauty and renewal of the natural world.
In practice
This quote could be used in a nature appreciation workshop to emphasize the beauty of spring.
What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.
Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.
This is reality, whether you like it or not--all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.
Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a solitary and an exile, his friends are everything.
No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.
It helps to think of soil as a living organism covered with skin like a human. We can live with a certain percentage of our skin damaged, but if too high a percentage is damaged, we die. So, too, does soil and thus most life
Why this cult of wilderness?... because we like the taste of freedom; because we like the smell of danger.
I have no hostility to nature, but a child's love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons.
Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.
Ahead and to the west was our ranger station - and the mountains of Idaho, poems of geology stretching beyond any boundaries and seemingly even beyond the world.
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