"If we had never before looked upon the earth ...."

"If we had never before looked upon the earth, but suddenly came upon it man or woman grown, set down in the midst of a summer mead, would it not seem to us a radiant vision?  The hues, the shapes, the song and life of birds, above all the sunlight, the breath of heaven resting on it; the mind would be filled with its glory, unable to grasp it, hardly believing that such things could be mere matter and no more.  Like a dream of some spiritland it would appear, scarce fit to be touched lest it should fall to pieces, too beautiful to be long watched lest it should fade away."

Richard Jefferies