294 the beautiful ladder . 
to wait with conscious joy the celestial over¬ 
shadowing. 
“ Of all earthly magnificence, the gorgeous 
summer sunsets have furnished the sublimest 
scenes for contemplation, and given to the im¬ 
agination its grandest field of enjoyment. Earth 
has no splendor worthy of comparison, and the 
enraptured beholder can only on the wings of 
imagination ascend above the glowing clouds 
and picture the glories of the celestial world. 
What strange and sudden transitions are seen in 
the evening clouds as each new angle of light 
marks the declining sun! And when the last 
beam fades away, it is like the dropping of a ce¬ 
lestial curtain, hiding a scene that is seemingly 
rather of heaven than of earth. A summer 
sunset is a spectacle that surpasses description, 
‘ And who would that expound which words transcends 
Must talk in vain.’ 
“As we have looked upon the glowing heav¬ 
ens we beheld 
‘ The splendid scenery of the sky, 
Where through a sapphire sea the sun 
Sails like a golden galleon 
Toward yonder cloudland in the west. 
Toward yonder Islands of the Blest.’ 
