MIST, EATN, AND HAIL. 123 



and obscuring in alternation. Then, as Gilpin 

 has been at pains to indicate, the contrasts are 

 forcible between strong light illumining with 

 brilliancy all objects it rests upon, and the indefi- 

 niteness of mistiness in parts of the same scene. 

 In the delightful manner which makes his writings 

 so pleasant, he describes what he indicates in the 

 following passages. ' The effect is often pleasing 

 when the sun rises in unsullied brightness, diffusing 

 its ruddy light over the upper parts of objects, 

 which is contrasted by the deeper shadows below ; 

 yet the effect is then only transcendant when he 

 rises, accompanied by a train of vapours, in a 

 misty atmosphere. Among lakes and mountains 

 this happy accompaniment often forms the most 

 astonishing visions ; and yet, in the forest, it is 

 nearly as great. With what delightful effect do 

 we sometimes see the sun's disc just appear above 

 a woody hill, or, in Sliakespeare's language, — 



" Stand tiptoe on the misty mountain's top," 



and dart his diverging rays through the rising 

 vapour ! The radiance, catching tlie tops of the 

 trees as they hang midway upon the shaggy steep, 



