248 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



out any rain, when the vast heavens are filled with 

 clouds that have never a rift nor a sunlit spot in 

 them ; a universe of slaty-black vapour, miles deep, 

 rising ever from the dim moaning sea to drown the 

 earth and all that is in it in everlasting gloom. Such 

 days are known all over the land and depress the soul, 

 and when such a cloud has been long above us we 

 pine for a sight of the pure blue of heaven and the 

 sunshine, even as a prisoner pines for liberty. 



Yet, strange as it may sound, this low, flat land 

 on a level with the sea has had the greatest charm 

 for me in precisely such gloomy weather as I have 

 described. In summer this district does not attract 

 me ; I look at the hills and would be walking on their 

 elastic turf, and breathing that exhilarating air. The 

 summer atmosphere is heavy and motionless here; 

 still, one would say that winter wet and gloom would 

 make the place intolerable. I can only suppose that 

 on account of the lowness and flatness of the land, 

 the nearness of the sea and the superabundant mois- 

 ture, the gloom is deepest here in dark weather — it 

 has always seemed so to me ; and that the darkness 

 serves to accentuate the special character of the dis- 

 trict, and pleases me for that reason. That my plea- 

 sure is as great as that which I experience on the 

 treeless hills in July and August, when the sun is 

 brightest, I do not for a moment say ; I can only say 

 that in the gloomiest weather, a perpetual twilight 

 which made trees, buildings, hedges, cattle, and all 



