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Hortus Vitae Part 7

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That was laying out a little hanging garden on the narrow ledge of two or three poor hours; and, behold! the garden has continued to be sweet and bright in the wide safe places of memory.

In saying all these things, I am aware that many wise men, or men reputed wise, are against me; and that pretty hard words have been applied in the literature of all countries and ages to persons who are of my way of thinking, as, for instance, _gross, thoughtless, without soul_, and _Epicurean Swine_. And some of the people I like most to read about, the heroes of Tolstoi, Andre, Levine, Pierre, and, of course, Tolstoi himself, are for ever repeating that they can not live, let alone enjoy life, unless some one tell them why they should live at all.

The demand, at first sight, does not seem unreasonable, and it is hard lines that just those who will ask about such matters should be the very ones for ever denied an answer. But so it is. The secret of _why we should live_ can be whispered only by a divinity; and, like the divinity who spoke to the Prophet, its small, still voice is heard only in ourselves. What it says there is neither couched in a logical form nor articulated in very definite language; and, I am bound to admit, is in no way of the nature of _pure reason_. Indeed, it is for the most part ejaculatory, and such that the veriest infant and simpleton, and I fear even animals (which is a dreadful admission), can follow its meaning. For to that unceasing question _Why_? the tiny voice within us answers with imperturbable irrelevance, "I want," "I do," "I think," and occasionally "I love." Very cra.s.s little statements, and not at all satisfactory to persons like Levine, Andre, and Tolstoi, who, for the most part, know them only second-hand; but wonderfully satisfying, thank goodness, to the great majority which hears them for ever humming and beating with the sound of its own lungs and heart. And one might even suspect that they are merely a personal paraphrase of the words which the spheres are singing and the heavens are telling.

So, if we have no ampler places to cultivate with reverence and love, let us betake ourselves to the hanging gardens on our roof. The suns will cake the insufficient earth and parch the delicate roots; the storms will batter and tear the frail creepers. No doubt. But at this present moment all is fair and fragrant. And when the storms have done their wicked worst, and the sun and the frosts--nay, when that roof on which we perch is pulled to pieces, tiles and bricks, and the whole block goes--may there not be, for those caring enough, the chance of growing another garden, there or elsewhere?

Be this as it may, one thing is certain, that no solid plot of earth between its walls or hedges allows us such intricate and unexpected bird's-eye views of streets and squares, of the bustling or resting city; none gives us such a vault of heaven, pure and sunny, or creeping with clouds, or serenely starlit, as do these hanging gardens of our life.

THE END

HORTUS VITAE; OR, THE HANGING GARDENS:

MORALIZING ESSAYS.

BY VERNON LEE.

_Times._--"There are many charming flowers in it ... the swift to-and-fro of her vivid, capricious mind carries the reader hither and thither at her will, and she has such wise, suggestive things to say.... Whenever and wherever she speaks of Italy, the sun shines in this garden of hers, the south wind stirs among the roses."

_Standard._--"There are imagination and fancy in the volume, a wise and independent outlook on society, an undercurrent of genial humour, and, what is perhaps still more rare, an invitation to think."

_Westminster Gazette._--"They are of the family of Lamb, Hunt, and Hazlitt, just as those derive from the Augustans, Addison, and Steele.... Vernon Lee possesses the best gifts of the essayists--the engaging turn, the graceful touch, the subtle allusiveness."

_Outlook._--"Vernon Lee possesses a mind richly imbued with the lore of the finest literature, and distinguished by just that touch of paradox, of the unexpected, which is the other indispensable requisite of the true essayist. Also her philosophy is never aggressively didactic, but always refreshing and helpful."

_Speaker._--"This volume of essays gives us the work of Vernon Lee in her most eager and abundant mood.... Cordial pages that convey so much sincerity of heart, so much warmth, so much courage and love of life."

_Pilot._--"All that Vernon Lee has written is strong and good ... and her shrewd observation has enabled her to see below the surface of life."

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_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

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With Twelve Full-page Ill.u.s.trations in Colour by the Author. Fcap. 4to. _7s. 6d._ net.

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Hortus Vitae Part 7 summary

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