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page 34
except the clouds gliding in the depths of the lake, or the
traveller passing along, an inverted image, whose motion
seems governed by the quiet of a time, to which its
archetype, the living person, is, perhaps insensible: - or
it may happen, that the figure of one of the larger birds, a
raven or a heron, is crossing silently among the reflected
clouds, while the voice of the real bird, from the element
aloft, gently awakens in the spectator the recollection of
appetites and instincts, pursuits and occupations, that
deform and agitate the world, - yet have no power to prevent
nature from putting on an aspect capable of satisfying the
most intense cravings for the tranquil, the lovely, and the
perfect, to which man, the noblest of her creatures, is
subject.
Thus far, of climate, as influencing the feelings through
its effects on the objects of sense. We may add, that
whatever has been said upon the advantages derived to these
scenes from a changeable atmosphere, would apply, perhaps
still more forcibly, to their appearance under the varied
solemnities of night. Milton, it will be remembered, has
given a clouded moon to Paradise itself. In the
night-season also, the narrowness of the vales, and
comparative smallness of the lakes, are especially adapted
to bring surrounding objects home to the eye and to the
heart. The stars, taking their stations above the hill-tops,
are contemplated from a spot like the Abyssinian recess of
Rasselas, with much more touching inter-
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