240 



THE SEA. 



bard. Shakespeare's cliff rears its lofty head at the present time to an altitude of 350 feet, 

 but in the great dramatist's day its summit was much higher, as indicated by the enormous 

 boulders and heaps of debris at its base, the result of frequent landslips and falls. Shakespeare 

 well describes this grand precipice : 



"Come on, sir; here's the place: stand still. How fearful 

 And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low ! 

 The crows and choughs that wing the midway air 



Show scarce so gross as beetles : half way down 

 Hangs one that gathers samphire dreadful trade ! 

 Methinks he seems no bigger than his head : 

 The fishermen that walk upon the beach 

 Appear like mice ; and yon tall anchoring bark, 

 Diminished to her cock; her cock, a buoy, 

 Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge, 

 That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, 

 Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more, 

 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 

 Topple down headlong." 



From the heights about Dover the views are magnificent. Seaward is the beautiful 

 bay, the Straits and the Downs, with its ever-changing fleets, the ships of all nations. 



