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A Crystal Age by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
page 182 of 195 (93%)

"That withering thought never comes to me now. 'Passing away' is not
written on the earth, which is still God's green footstool; the grass
was not greener nor the flowers sweeter when man was first made out of
clay, and the breath of life breathed into his nostrils. And the human
family and race--outcome of all that dead, unimaginable past--this also
appears to have the stamp of everlastingness on it; and in its tranquil
power and majesty resembles some vast mountain that lifts its head above
the clouds, and has its granite roots deep down in the world's center. A
feeling of awe is in me when I gaze on it; but it is vain to ask myself
now whether the vanished past, with its manifold troubles and transitory
delights, was preferable to this unchanging peaceful present. I care for
nothing but Yoletta; and if the old world was consumed to ashes that she
might be created, I am pleased that it was so consumed; for nobler than
all perished hopes and ambitions is the hope that I may one day wear
that bright, consummate flower on my bosom."

"I have only one trouble now--a wolf that follows me everywhere, always
threatening to rend me to pieces with its black jaws. Not you, old
friend--a great, gaunt, man-eating, metaphorical wolf, far more terrible
than that beast of the ancients which came to the poor man's door. In
the darkness its eyes, glowing like coals, are ever watching me, and
even in the bright daylight its shadowy form is ever near me, stealing
from bush to bush, or from room to room, always dogging my footsteps.
Will it ever vanish, like a mere phantom--a wolf of the brain--or will
it come nearer and more near, to spring upon and rend me at the last? If
they could only clothe my mind as they have my body, to make me like
themselves with no canker at my heart, ever contented and calmly glad!
But nothing comes from taking thought. I am sick of thought--I hate it!
Away with it! I shall go and look for Yoletta, since she does not come
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