Whose jewelled couch reflects the million stars
That murmur silent music in their flight. . . .
Yet, he can employ delineative line with swift and sure artistry just to make a picture for its own sake, disclosing absolute mastery in economy of means, as in his Rododactulos:—
The night blows outward in a mist,
And all the world the sun has kissed.
Along a golden rim of sky,
A thousand snow-piled vapors lie.
And by the wood and mist-clad stream,
The Maiden Morn stands still to dream.
That is an exquisite bit of naturalistic etching with a poetic meaning intrinsically in the picture of the Maiden Morn standing and dreaming in the mist. The picture itself delights both the visual faculty and the imagination. Campbell also possessed the faculty of painting vividly, as with a single sweep of the brush, as in his Lake Huron (in October) and its memorable lines:—