The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.Radcliffe, Ann Ward
General
The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.
Radcliffe, Ann Ward
Gothic fiction
The first tender tints of morning now appeared on the verge of the
horizon, stealing upon the darkness;--so pure, so fine, so ethereal! it
seemed as if heaven was opening to the view. The dark mists were seen to
roll off to the west, as the tints of light grew stronger, deepening the
obscurity of that part of the hemisphere, and involving the features of
the country below; meanwhile, in the east, the hues became more vivid,
darting a trembling lustre far around, till a ruddy glow, which fired
all that part of the heavens, announced the rising sun. At first, a
small line of inconceivable splendour emerged on the horizon, which
quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all his glory, unveiling the
whole face of nature, vivifying every colour of the landscape, and
sprinkling the dewy earth with glittering light. The low and gentle
responses of birds, awakened by the morning ray, now broke the silence
of the hour; their soft warblings rising by degrees till they swelled
the chorus of universal gladness. Adeline's heart swelled too with
gratitude and adoration.
The scene before her soothed her mind, and exalted her thoughts to the
great Author of Nature; she uttered an involuntary prayer: Father of
good, who made this glorious scene! I resign myself to thy hands: thou
wilt support me under my present sorrows, and to protect me from future
evil.
Thus confiding in the benevolence of God, she wiped the tears from her
eyes, while the sweet union of conscience and reflection rewarded her
trust; and her mind, losing the feelings which had lately oppressed it,
became tranquil and composed.
La Motte awoke soon after, and Peter prepared to set out on his
expedition. As he mounted his horse. An' please you, master, said he, I
think we had as good look no further for a habitation till better times
turn up; for nobody will think of looking for us here; and when one sees
the place by daylight, it's none so bad, but what a little patching up
would make it comfortable enough. La Motte made no reply, but he thought
of Peter's words. During the intervals of the night, when anxiety had
kept him waking, the same idea had occurred to him; concealment was his
only security, and this place afforded it. The desolation of the spot
was repulsive to his wishes; but he had only a choice of evils--a forest
with liberty was not a bad home for one who had too much reason to
expect a prison. As he walked through the apartments, and examined their
condition more attentively, he perceived they might easily be made
habitable; and now surveying them under the cheerfulness of morning, his
design strengthened; and he mused upon the means of accomplishing it,
which nothing seemed so much to obstruct as the apparent difficulty of
procuring food.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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