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round the globe , bat these waves were as the ample and graceful foldings of the world ' s vast oceanic mantle . They rose and fell like the regular heavings of a living world ' s gigantic bosom . And the splendid sun was shining on that ' azure main , ' as if he loved it ; and his image was reflected there—clear , bright , and deep , as if he were loved again . It was there when the billows rose , and it was there when the billows fell—glittering , but yet unbroken in the change . And as I admired the simple and serene magnificence of this elemental scene , there burst from that cloudless sky a peal of thunder , —of thunder so full and sonorous , and as it seemed to me so significant and supernatural , that a sensation of troubled awe spread over my frame , and I felt as if present at that wonderful work ' in the beginning / when * the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters , and God said , Let there be light , and there was
light . The scriptural recollection was probably suggested to my sleeping senses by the unbounded expanse of that visionary ocean , and under the influence of the association thus called up , the long rolling of that thunder fashioned itself into a resemblance of syllabic utterance ; such a resemblance as there is of form in the dim outlines that grow upon the eye out of thick darkness , or even from blazing light , like the angel of the Lord emerging from the glory at the top of Jacob ' s ladder , in Rembrandt ' s painting of the patriarch ' s dream . It was possible to persuade oneself that it only thundered ; and yet the sensation of my dream , wrought out in verbal record , would rather be , * there came a voice from heaven saying , Let Britain arise P And the progress of events confirmed
the interpretation . I wa 3 indeed present at the last act of creation . The voice from above was echoed by a hollow , murmuring , responsive sound , that came from the very bottom of the abyss , beneath all that weight of waters . In a moment all was convulsion and confusion . Strange noises , deep , shrill , rapid , rolling , voluminous , a chaos of sound , terrified my ears . The placid majesty of sea and sky vanished . Dense vapours blotted out the sun . From the ocean , columns of flame burst forth abruptly , ascended high , and disappeared ; and Were followed by others in quick succession . Wild meteors were blazing here and there throughout the atmosphere . The stars , which became partially visible as the sun was obscured , had * forgotten their courses , " and reeled in the sky , and rose and set confusedly , like warriors ' plumes in desperate conflict . A hurricane swept madly along
over the surface of the waters , which sometimes yawned to the very centre , and then swelled up ' as high as huge Olympus . ' And still the submarine thunderings continued , and swelled louder and louder , and the volumes of flame became more ample ; and as I began to madden with the uproar , and felt my temples throbbing , and was struggling to awake , as one struggles with the pressure of deadly nightmare , all was hushed , and there was the sweet music of a heavenly harp , and it played imperfect snatches
Untitled Article
Rule Britannia . 461
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1833, page 451, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2618/page/11/
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