nothing , but when there was no rain , when men were restive and angry and full of fear , when people spoke of the curse of heaven on the withering grass , and roman slights , and an anxious emperor gone into exile in mourning for a son poisoned , when all the world seemed filled with the pressure to put one 's shoulder to it and push , well , in such a time , i did n't go off to the grove of trees to sleep the day away .