And by “color” does he mean “explain”? Or “enhance”? Or hide something?
It makes me wonder if solitude were a rather unusual thing for an unmarried woman. Could she not be out on her own for a walk without a book? What does the book do that she can’t? It seems to indicate a sort of religiosity given the second line. Has he given her the Bible? Is she meant to have ended up walking on her own because she’s been lost in her devotions?
And what of walking and reading?
It seems rather hazardous – but was it done at a certain point?
As a reader and a walker, I am intrigued by the notion. One would have to walk on familiar ground so as to avoid running into anything or falling off something. But, say, in a garden, on soft grass, where you know where the hedges are? Fantastic.
The Hamlet Project 