“This book was not compiled on purpose. I once decided to write a short play about the beauty of nature in the same tone that dominates this entire book. I wrote the one that is placed here under the title “To the snows when they fall in the spring.” This was the very first, and this happened back in April 1794. I fell in love with it, and then I composed another one under the title “To the reviving grass and the first greenery in spring.” And both of these plays made me want to study works of this kind and, by rewriting them, combine them into one place, and from this came this book and all the works contained in it. They were written at different times and more for my own pleasure, for I admit that the minutes spent on composing and rewriting them were fun for me, and for all that, don’t blame me, dear reader, if you find something in it for you objectionable and unpleasant..."