2. Thou blossom bright with autumn dew,
And colored with the heaven's own blue,
That openest when the quiet light
Succeeds the keen and frosty night.
Thou comest not when violets lean
O'er wandering brooks and springs unseen,
Or columbines, in purple dressed,
Nod o'er the ground-bird's hidden nest.
Thou waitest late and com'st alone,
When woods are bare and birds are flown,
And frosts and shortening days portend
The aged year is near his end.
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye
Look through its fringes to the sky,
Blue—blue—as if that sky let fall
A flower from its cerulean wall.
I would that thus, when I shall see
The hour of death draw near to me,
Hope, blossoming within my heart,
May look to heaven as I depart.
—Bryant: To the Fringed Gentian.
You will see at once how extremely varied different forms of description may be when you reflect that these two extracts are both descriptions of the same thing. The prose extract presents a plain and accurate account of facts. The poetry aims to give a description of the object which will interest, please, and move the reader, and which will bring a picture vividly before his eyes. Between two examples contrasting so completely as these, there lies a long series of gradations from one variety of description to another. There are, however, two main divisions of this form of writing: the plain statement, whose only purpose is to present a picture of the object described and to interest the reader in doing so; and scientific description, which bears about the same relation to literary description as a business letter to a friendly one. They both present facts, but in one case for the sake of the facts and in the other in order to interest the reader.
When analyzed, scientific description is found to be simply a list of all the facts about a given subject. These facts, however, must not be gathered together and thrown into a paragraph without order. In the plainest sort of description there must be a regular plan. Begin by stating definitely what it is you are about to treat, or give a definition of it as it stands in its broad relations to other things, so that your reader may have a general notion of your subject. This is called the introduction, and should vary in length and explicitness according to the familiarity of your theme. If you are about to describe the common house fly, a simple statement to that effect is enough; but if you are beginning a description of a rare dragon fly, you will need not only to give the name, but where it is found, its general relation to other families of flies more familiar, and perhaps to tell how you happened to see it, where it may be observed, etc. In general, however, the introduction should always be brief and very much to the point, since it is a common fault for inexperienced writers to delay too long over the beginning.
After this, take up, one by one, in the order of their importance, the main qualities of your subject. For this purpose you should have brief outlines prepared, so that you will not state small and non-essential details before essentials.
The following description of the group of birds known as warblers will aid you as a model:—