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Untitled Article
as he glided down on fris throne of golden clouds , and spread a blaze of many hues , crimson , violet , and green , upon the glassy plain beneath him . Now the rolling and dark masses , fringed with vermilion and laced with silver , hulig as a gorgeous veil before his face , or shot up radiations and fine threads of
transparent and coruscated vapour , through and above the denser conglomerations ; the whole glory of the spectacle acquiring a deeper and a richer magnificence , while the dazzling brightness of the great luminary dims , as he slowl y sinks behind , or pauses on the lower edge of a cloud , through which his splendour shoots a clear , pure-mellowed blaze . Ethereal temples , fanes , and
gardens , suspended by an invisible hand from the great arch , swing in harmonious duty on his retiring light , the immediate attendants on his silently majestic course ; while others , less near , are gathering around him , antheming his praise as he moves beyond the limits of their sky ; and the outstretched remotenesses on either hand stand awed , as gazers deeply and devoutly
worshipping . He touches the ledge of the watery horizon , pauses with a final , blessing smile upon his countenance , theu sinks at once before the enthralled and enraptured sight ; diffusing with that last look on the mortal day , such a wonder of delight ! an arched ocean showering down joy on the hushed and adoring spirit .
How beautiful ! how limitlessly , how indescribably beautiful were all these things ! The most dazzling , glorious effulgence , softened , melted into quiet , tranquil , pure gentleness of splendour , which seemed to breathe pity , love , gladness , affection , and bliss—bliss ! bliss ! on all creatures , and on all things . It was a bath for the soul to refresh in , to sail in , to sleep , to dream in ! How good I was while I gazed there ! My heart was all peace ; my thoughts all delight , —love : not a vice was then on earth ' s broad surface , in its recesses , or on its mountain sides . Ill did
not exist : corroding passions had no being , no name ; and all the children of the earth were transformed into angels . Even that boatswain ' s mate on board the Salvador del Mundo was a thing of beauty now . How truly , deeply , do I thank the Godot Nature for such balmy and blessed thoughts ; such delicious anodynes as scenes like this , and a thousand others , have thrown
on my parched spirit ! Look at the setting sun a thousand , ay , a million times , and you will never weary of its grandeur . You will feel no diminution of its power over the senses . It never relaxes its enfolding of
the soul , if you once give your soul to the gaze . It was now , for the first time in my life , I was made fully sensible of its wondrous power on the spirit ; but there are other places and circumstances ivherein the glory far excels anything which I ever saw at sea . I feel that I have failed in my painting in the above attempt ; it would be folly to do more than merely to c «* st a glance in rtfcr-
Untitled Article
34 Autobiography of Pel . Verjuice .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1834, page 34, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2629/page/34/
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