Of Lanier's felicitous choice of words we have already had incidental illustration; but it is desirable, perhaps, to group here a few of his happiest phrases, to show that, as Lowell*1* said, he is "a man of genius with a rare gift for the happy word." Notice this speech about the brook:
"And down the hollow from a ferny nook
`Lull' sings a little brook!"*2*
and this of the well-bucket:
"The rattling bucket plumps
Souse down the well;"*3*
and this of the outburst of a bird:
"Dumb woods, have ye uttered a bird?"*4*
and the description of a mocking-bird as
"Yon trim Shakspere on the tree;"*5*
and of midnight as
"Death's and truth's unlocking time."*6*