Looking for an author of a quote...

[DSettahr]

I'm looking for an author so that I can attribute a quote to them. The quote is something along the lines of night "not falling [in the woods] but rather, rising. Beginning at the base of the trees, the darkness creeps up out of the forest floor, slowly engulfing the forest from below." I know that this is not a verbatim quote, but the general gist of what was written.

I'm pretty sure (although not 100%) that the author was a famous Adirondack writer, and the piece was about nightfall in the Adirondacks. At the very least, it was a nature writer. If anyone has any idea of who wrote this, I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks.

 

[cushetunk]

It is from the Waterman's book Wilderness Ethics, I believe.

 

[DSettahr]

Hmm, I think you're right. I'll have to see if I can find the passage...

 

[DSettahr]

Found it, on page 167 in my edition in the chapter "Of Time and Wildness."

"It rises out of the ground from under thick woods. It wells up beneath the dark trees, the thick-branched evergreens first, and, after milling around for some time in the dense forest, gradually steals out into the clearings, keeping close to the ground. Only gradually does it rise and envelop people and the works of people. It hugs the shores of lakes and rivers, then slowly ventures out over the black waters. The sky is where it reaches last. Long after the earth is under it's spell, the sky still holds out in brightness, save that a single gleaming jewel of a star foretells the end of light."

I think of this passage during every night fall in the woods...

 

[Chip]

Found something similar:
"Czech philosopher, Erazim Kohák, describes the approach of night. “The night comes softly, almost imperceptibly. The darkness gathers unnoted amid the undergrowth, in the shelter of the hemlocks and beneath the boulders of the old dam, slowly seeping out to cover the ground” (The Embers and the Stars)."