" ... withdrawn, absorbed, pondering... "

May, 18, 2018

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from

Pacific Monthly

January, 1908

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** ( note: ) I have uncovered numerous magazine articles written by

 Chase, back at least as early as 1908. He was published in

    periodicals from Sunset, to St. Nicholas, and Pacific Monthly.

Virtually all of the articles present writing other than that

    published in his books, which is a real treat, and quite clearly

  shows Chase wrote in an inspired fashion regardless of the

  format or audience. I will begin incorporating those pieces 

     into this forum. The first, below, is an excerpt from the ' Pacific

Monthly ' of January, 1908.   **

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The Yosemite Valley in Winter

" Then, heralded by the first snowfall comes Act IV of the great yearly drama.
This does not often occur before the end of December, and may cover the 
floor of the Valley with three of four inches of snow, increasing in depth on
the higher levels. The last fluttering pennons of the willows - Autumn's 
rearguard - are hauled down, and Winter comes into its own.

In the cold, keen air, the terrible element in the beauty of the Valley - and all
scenic beauty must have that element or be insipid - come into play. Every
scarp, and cliff, and splinter of all the tremendous array has its own threat,
and starts almost into speech in its curt command of your obedience. 
El Capitan, no longer a dream-portal to an amethyst fairy-land, is now a
steel-helmeted, dark-browned despot; the Three Brothers stoop, brooding,
like Atlases under an intolerable load.

Across the Valley, the Sentinel stands sternly aloof; Half Dome gloomily
fronts his sundered brother across the gulf; Clouds' Rest and a score of
other High Mightiness stand withdrawn, absorbed, pondering.

But when, now and again, one or another of the giants releases himself
of his load of snow, the silence is broken by a deep, shattering roar.
From end to end of the Valley, peak answers peak in solemn antiphon;
the great scarp of Half Dome catches the mighty sound and flings it over
to North Dome, who tosses it on to the Sentinel. A moment or two it
reverberates among his multitudinous crags as he rolls and wraps it
together, to hurl it across to high Eagle Peak. Cathedral Rock takes 
it up, and the deep diapason growls and mutters a moment there, 
then sharply breaks on El Capitan, and dies away with short, rocket-
like reports under his overhanging battlements. "

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*** Definitions for the curious!

( pennon ) - pennant/ pendant. Derivative of Latin penna for feather.

  ( antiphon ) - a short sentence sung or recited before or after a psalm
                   or canticle. Latin from Greek, antiphona for harmonies

        ( diapason ) - an organ stop sounding a main register of flue pipes; grand
                            swelling burst of harmony; the entire scope of something.
              Original Greek, khordon, for through all ( notes ).

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