डायरी 01, 1837-1846

[The small manuscript volume bearing on its first fly-leaf the legend printed on the preceding page is evidently a transcript of unused passages in the early journals, and this is also the case with several succeeding small volumes. See note on page 342. The following mottoes occupy the next three pages of the book.] "By all means use sometimes to be alone. Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear. Dare to look in thy chest; for 'tis thine own: And tumble up and down what thou find'st there. Who cannot rest till he good fellows find, He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind." HERBERT, _The Church Porch_. "Friends and companions, get you gone! 'Tis my desire to be alone; Ne'er well, but when my thoughts and I _Do domineer in privacy_." BURTON, _Anatomy of Melancholy_. "Two Paradises are in one, To live in Paradise alone." MARVELL, _The Garden_. THE JOURNAL OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU I (ÆT. 20) _Oct 22._ "What are you doing now?" he asked. "Do you keep a journal?" So I make my first entry to-day. SOLITUDE To be alone I find it necessary to escape the present,—I avoid myself. How could I be alone in the Roman emperor's chamber of mirrors? I seek a garret. The spiders must not be disturbed, nor the floor swept, nor the lumber arranged. The Germans say, "Es ist alles wahr wodurch du besser wirst." THE MOULD OUR DEEDS LEAVE _Oct. 24._ Every part of nature teaches that the passing away of one life is the making room for another. The oak dies down to the ground, leaving within its rind a rich virgin mould, which will impart a vigorous life to an infant forest. The pine leaves a sandy and sterile soil, the harder woods a strong and fruitful mould. So this constant abrasion and decay makes the soil of my future growth.…