--Living down in the country again. A wonderful
conjunction of all that goes to make those sometime miracle-hours
after sunset--so near and yet so far. Perfect, or nearly perfect days,
I notice, are not so very uncommon; but the combinations that make
perfect nights are few, even in a life time. We have one of those
perfections to-night. Sunset left things pretty clear; the larger
stars were visible soon as the shades allow'd. A while after 8, three
or four great black clouds suddenly rose, seemingly from different
points, and sweeping with broad swirls of wind but no thunder,
underspread the orbs from view everywhere, and indicated a violent
heatstorm. But without storm, clouds, blackness and all, sped and
vanish'd as suddenly as they had risen; and from a little after 9
till 11 the atmosphere and the whole show above were in that state
of exceptional clearness and glory just alluded to. In the northwest
turned the Great Dipper with its pointers round the Cynosure. A little
south of east the constellation of the Scorpion was fully up, with red
Antares glowing in its neck; while dominating, majestic Jupiter swam,
an hour and a half risen, in the east--(no moon till after 11.)
A large part of the sky seem'd just laid in great splashes of
phosphorus. You could look deeper in, farther through, than usual;
the orbs thick as heads of wheat in a field. Not that there was any
special brilliancy either--nothing near as sharp as I have seen of
keen winter nights, but a curious general luminousness throughout
to sight, sense, and soul.
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