338 ° THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE —_ cmap, 
scattered plants of blue Sea Holly, or yellow- 
flowered Horned Poppies, Sea-kale, Sea Con- 
volvulus, Saltwort, Artemisia, and Sea-grasses ; 
the waves roll leisurely in one by one, and as 
they reach the beach, each in turn rises up in 
an arch of clear, cool, transparent, green 
water, tipped with white or faintly pinkish 
foam, and breaks lovingly on the sands; 
while beyond hes the Das Sea sparkling in 
the sunshine. 
. O pleasant Sea 
Earth hath not a plain 
So boundless or so beautiful as thine. 
The Sea is indeed at times overpoweringly 
beautiful. At morning and evening a sheet 
of living silver or gold, at mid-day deep blue ; 
even 
Too deeply blue; too beautiful; too bright; 
Oh, that the shadow of a cloud might rest 
Somewhere upon the splendour of thy breast 
In momentary gloom.? 
There are few prettier sights than the beach 
at a seaside town on a fine summer’s day; 
the waves sparkling in the sunshine, the water 
1 Campbell. 2 Holmes, 
