BOOK I

_The green trees_, _when I saw them first through one of the gates_, _transported and ravished me_; _their sweetness and unusual beauty made my heart to leap and almost mad with ecstasy_,—_they were such strange and wonderful things_. _The skies were mine_, _and so were the sun and moon and stars_,—_and all the world was mine_,—_and I the only spectator and enjoyer of it_.

THOMAS TRAHERNE.