314 CLOUDS. 



the fineness of their texture and organization, the finer 

 and more complicated fabrics occupying the space above 

 the next in degree. We often observe three layers of 

 cloud separated by sufficient space to receive all the dif- 

 ferent hues of sunset at the same moment. While the 

 feather clouds that occupy the greatest elevation are burn- 

 ished with a dazzling radiance, the middle layers of dappled 

 cloud will be tipped with crimson, while the violet and in- 

 digo hues are seen in the dense unorganized mass that is 

 spread out below. It may be remarked, both of the forms 

 and the hues of clouds, that nature permits no harsh con- 

 trasts or sudden transitions. The different hues are laid 

 softly one above another, melting into each other like 

 those in the plumage of a dove. You can never see where 

 one hue terminates and another commences. It is the 

 same in a less degree with their forms, that never for two 

 minutes in succession remain unaltered. They exhibit a 

 pleasing irregularity, and are almost destitute of outlines, 

 so that the imagination is left to carve out of their ob- 

 scure figures and arrangements aerial landscapes, bright 

 sunny valleys, and rolling plains, with villages surrounded 

 by turrets and the pinnacles of mountains. 



The imagination is always stimulated by a certain de- 

 gree of obscurity in the objects of sight and sound as well 

 as of thought. The sublime passages of the poets are 

 often obscure, suggestive of something tliat produces a 

 well-defined emotion, but no distinct image to the under- 

 standing. It is this quality that gives their power to 

 certain remarkable passages in the Hebrew prophets. In 

 a terrestrial landscape, when viewed by daylight, the out- 

 lines of objects, except at a distance, are so distinct that 

 we can see and easily describe their forms and character. 

 Distant objects have a dimness of outline and a misty 

 obscurity which are favorable to an expression of sub- 

 limity. In the darkness of night the forms of trees display 



