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Show 334 and that, l a r k - l i k e , he meant to walk about in the grass hereafter, or stand on a h i l l o c k l i k e a l i t t l e burrowing owl. . . • Food, which brings both eagles and men from the clouds, was a-wanting - he hungered and came down for a hare. After describing the b i r d ' s hunt for a hare, Muir allowed his eagle to "satisfy his hunger, wipe off a l l marks of grossness, and go again to the s k i e s . " He f e l t that there was something unseemly about the e a g l e ' s descent to the earth and meat. The "strong s a i l o r of the sky" was, l i k e Muir, compelled to leave the heights in the winter, and come to a hillock to get his bread. Naturally Muir hoped t h a t he too would be able to "wipe off all marks of grossness, and go again to the skies." The "real incident" of his journal was equally the coming of the eagle and the mental s t a t e of Muir; they were inseparable. The eagle's departure represented his own a s p i r a t i o n s to be rid of a l l material needs and e a r t h l y problems, and one can see why he would oppose a l l pastoral "improvements" to landscapes, which represented the feeding, clothing, and housing of men. Yet three years l a t e r , in 1872, he wished to entice the tourist to stop in the hollow, not aspire to the skies. If this was a place which Muir and the eagle had come down to, it was a place which the public needed to come up to, a sort of middle ground which Muir could share with the t o u r i s t. This is the very d e f i n i t i o n of p a s t o r a l , a middle ground between the wilds and the c i t y . To seduce the public, Muir would attempt to speak with the voice of a l a r k , not that of the eagle. |