{"id":"01KG8AM8K4PJ1P8TDMEW1C466Q","cid":"bafkreib4fqkggvwxayf47rmrqfjmyxjnsje3mprapaiqdabwvih33pl2ta","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3824,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.981Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KG89J1FFTGRE9J93Z3K29NGY","start_line":3780,"text":"all that day, half-buried in the new clover, I watched this Hawthorne’s\r\n‘Assyrian dawn, and Paphian sunset and moonrise from the summit of our\r\neastern hill.’\r\n\r\nThe soft ravishments of the man spun me round about in a web of dreams,\r\nand when the book was closed, when the spell was over, this wizard\r\n‘dismissed me with but misty reminiscences, as if I had been dreaming of\r\nhim.’\r\n\r\nWhat a wild moonlight of contemplative humour bathes that Old\r\nManse!--the rich and rare distilment of a spicy and slowly-oozing heart.\r\nNo rollicking rudeness, no gross fun fed on fat dinners, and bred in the\r\nlees of wine,--but a humour so spiritually gentle, so high, so deep, and\r\nyet so richly relishable, that it were hardly inappropriate in an angel.\r\nIt is the very religion of mirth; for nothing so human but it may be\r\nadvanced to that. The orchard of the Old Manse seems the visible type of\r\nthe fine mind that has described it--those twisted and contorted old\r\ntrees, ‘they stretch out their crooked branches, and take such hold of\r\nthe imagination that we remember them as humorists and odd-fellows.’ And\r\nthen, as surrounded by these grotesque forms, and hushed in the noonday\r\nrepose of this Hawthorne’s spell, how aptly might the still fall of his\r\nruddy thoughts into your soul be symbolised by: ‘In the stillest\r\nafternoon, if I listened, the thump of a great apple was audible,\r\nfalling without a breath of wind, from the mere necessity of perfect\r\nripeness.’ For no less ripe than ruddy are the apples of the thoughts\r\nand fancies in this sweet Man of Mosses.\r\n\r\n_Buds and Bird Voices._ What a delicious thing is that! ‘Will the world\r\never be so decayed, that spring may not renew its greenness?’ And the\r\n_Fire Worship_. Was ever the hearth so glorified into an altar before?\r\nThe mere title of that piece is better than any common work in fifty\r\nfolio volumes. How exquisite is this: ‘Nor did it lessen the charm of\r\nhis soft, familiar courtesy and helpfulness that the mighty spirit, were\r\nopportunity offered him, would run riot through the peaceful house, wrap\r\nits inmates in his terrible embrace, and leave nothing of them save\r\ntheir whitened bones. This possibility of mad destruction only made his\r\ndomestic kindness the more beautiful and touching. It was so sweet of\r\nhim, being endowed with such power, to dwell day after day, and one long\r\nlonesome night after another, on the dusky hearth, only now and then\r\nbetraying his wild nature by thrusting his red tongue out of the\r\nchimney-top! True, he had done much mischief in the world, and was\r\npretty certain to do more; but his warm heart atoned for all. He was\r\nkindly to the race of man; and they pardoned his characteristic\r\nimperfections.’\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJVQAZF49HK19VVYQ1DXW","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1FFTGRE9J93Z3K29NGY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM8JZYK02HTF7GH1TCA8A","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM8K54DR0G74Q6MVRFCV9","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:31.332Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.312Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}