ISBN: 2940014607827

_Madre Mia_People may say thou art no longer young And yet, to me, thy youth was yesterday, A yesterday that seems Still mingled with my dreams.Ah! how the years have o'er thee flu… Mehr…

_Madre Mia_People may say thou art no longer young And yet, to me, thy youth was yesterday, A yesterday that seems Still mingled with my dreams.Ah! how the years have o'er thee flung Their soft mantilla, grey.And e'en to them thou art not over old; How could'st thou be! Thy hair Hast scarcely lost its deep old glorious dark: Thy face is scarcely lined. No markDestroys its calm serenity. Like gold Of evening light, when winds scarce stir, The soul-light of thy face is pure as prayer.IThe Land of LonesomenessNow we had been five days in the boats, and in all this time made nodiscovering of land. Then upon the morning of the sixth day came there acry from the bo'sun, who had the command of the lifeboat, that there wassomething which might be land afar upon our larboard bow; but it was verylow lying, and none could tell whether it was land or but a morningcloud. Yet, because there was the beginning of hope within our hearts, wepulled wearily towards it, and thus, in about an hour, discovered it tobe indeed the coast of some flat country.Then, it might be a little after the hour of midday, we had come so closeto it that we could distinguish with ease what manner of land lay beyondthe shore, and thus we found it to be of an abominable flatness, desolatebeyond all that I could have imagined. Here and there it appeared to becovered with clumps of queer vegetation; though whether they were smalltrees or great bushes, I had no means of telling; but this I know, thatthey were like unto nothing which ever I had set eyes upon before.So much as this I gathered as we pulled slowly along the coast, seekingan opening whereby we could pass inward to the land; but a weary timepassed or ere we came upon that which we sought. Yet, in the end, wefound it--a slimy-banked creek, which proved to be the estuary of a greatriver, though we spoke of it always as a creek. Into this we entered, andproceeded at no great pace upwards along its winding course; and as wemade forward, we scanned the low banks upon each side, perchance theremight be some spot where we could make to land; but we found none--thebanks being composed of a vile mud which gave us no encouragement toventure rashly upon them.Now, having taken the boat something over a mile up the great creek, wecame upon the first of that vegetation which I had chanced to notice fromthe sea, and here, being within some score yards of it, we were thebetter able to study it. Thus I found that it was indeed composed largelyof a sort of tree, very low and stunted, and having what might bedescribed as an unwholesome look about it. The branches of this tree, Iperceived to be the cause of my inability to recognize it from a bush,until I had come close upon it; for they grew thin and smooth through alltheir length, and hung towards the earth; being weighted thereto by asingle, large cabbage-like plant which seemed to sprout from the extremetip of each.Presently, having passed beyond this clump of the vegetation, and thebanks of the river remaining very low, I stood me upon a thwart, by whichmeans I was enabled to scan the surrounding country. This I discovered,so far as my sight could penetrate, to be pierced in all directions withinnumerable creeks and pools, some of these latter being very great ofextent; and, as I have before made mention, everywhere the country waslow set--as it might be a great plain of mud; so that it gave me a senseof dreariness to look out upon it. It may be, all unconsciously, that myspirit was put in awe by the extreme silence of all the country around;for in all that waste I could see no living thing, neither bird norvegetable, save it be the stunted trees, which, indeed, grew in clumpshere and there over all the land, so much as I could see. Digital Content>E-books>Fiction>Fiction>Fiction, SAP Digital >16<

ISBN: 2940014607827

THE BOATS OF THE 'GLEN CARRIG' THE-BOATS-OF-THE-GLEN-CARRIG~~William-Hope-Hodgson Fiction>Fiction>Fiction NOOK Book (eBook), SAP