Close to
the shore beneath, by the side of some low rocks, floated a little boat.
He thought how delightful it would be to lie in the boat in the sunlight,
and let it die away upon his bosom. He scrambled down the rocks, stepped
on board, and laid himself in the boat, with his face turned towards the
sinking sun. Lower and lower the sun sank, seeming to draw the heavens
after him, like a net. At length he plunged beneath the waves; but as his
last rays disappeared on the horizon, lo! a new splendour burst upon the
astonished boy. The whole waters were illuminated from beneath, with the
permeating glories of the buried radiance. In rainbow circles, and
intermingling, fluctuating sweeps of colours, the sea lay like an intense
opal, molten with the fire of its own hues. The sky gave back the
effulgence with a less deep but more heavenly loveliness.
"But betwixt the sea and the sky, just over the grave of the down-gone
sun, a dark spot appeared, parting the earth and the heaven where they had
mingled in embraces of light.
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