登陆注册
5447000000011

第11章 WELLS(2)

The springs, then, the profound wells, the streams, are of all the means of our lives those which we should wish to see open to the sun, with their waters on their progress and their way to us; but, no, they are lapped in lead.

King Pandion and his friends lie not under heavier seals.

Yet we have been delighted, elsewhere, by open floods. The hiding- place that nature and the simpler crafts allot to the waters of wells are, at their deepest, in communication with the open sky. No other mine is so visited; for the noonday sun himself is visible there; and it is fine to think of the waters of this planet, shallow and profound, all charged with shining suns, a multitude of waters multiplying suns, and carrying that remote fire, as it were, within their unalterable freshness. Not a pool without this visitant, or without passages of stars. As for the wells of the Equator, you may think of them in their last recesses as the daily bathing-places of light; a luminous fancy is able so to scatter fitful figures of the sun, and to plunge them in thousands within those deeps.

Round images lie in the dark waters, but in the bright waters the sun is shattered out of its circle, scattered into waves, broken across stones, and rippled over sand; and in the shallow rivers that fall through chestnut woods the image is mingled with the mobile figures of leaves. To all these waters the agile air has perpetual access. Not so can great towns be watered, it will be said with reason; and this is precisely the ill-luck of great towns.

Nevertheless, there are towns, not, in a sense, so great, that have the grace of visible wells; such as Venice, where every campo has its circle of carved stone, its clashing of dark copper on the pavement, its soft kiss of the copper vessel with the surface of the water below, and the cheerful work of the cable.

Or the Romans knew how to cause the parted floods to measure their plain with the strong, steady, and level flight of arches from the watersheds in the hills to the and city; and having the waters captive, they knew how to compel them to take part, by fountains, in this Roman triumph. They had the wit to boast thus of their brilliant prisoner.

None more splendid came bound to Rome, or graced captivity with a more invincible liberty of the heart. And the captivity and the leap of the heart of the waters have outlived their captors. They have remained in Rome, and have remained alone. Over them the victory was longer than empire, and their thousands of loud voices have never ceased to confess the conquest of the cold floods, separated long ago, drawn one by one, alive, to the head and front of the world.

Of such a transit is made no secret. It was the most manifest fact of Rome. You could not look to the city from the mountains or to the distance from the city without seeing the approach of those perpetual waters--waters bound upon daily tasks and minute services.

This, then, was the style of a master, who does not lapse from "incidental greatness," has no mean precision, out of sight, to prepare the finish of his phrases, and does not think the means and the approaches are to be plotted and concealed. Without anxiety, without haste, and without misgiving are all great things to be done, and neither interruption in the doing nor ruin after they are done finds anything in them to betray. There was never any disgrace of means, and when the world sees the work broken through there is no disgrace of discovery. The labour of Michelangelo's chisel, little more than begun, a Roman structure long exposed in disarray-- upon these the light of day looks full, and the Roman and the Florentine have their unrefuted praise.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 天欲记

    天欲记

    天地万物皆有灵,灵之最高是为人。有人说,人其实是万恶的本源,而这万恶的本源又来自人心的欲望。话虽如此,但也不能一概而论,毕竟欲望也是分善恶两面的,恶的欲望可以毁掉人的一生,善的欲望也可以成就人的一生;可是......有没有人想过,若是天有了欲望,会如何? QQ聊天讨论群:207865780
  • 先学做人再学做事全集(白金版)

    先学做人再学做事全集(白金版)

    都说“为人处事”,先学做人,再学处事。那么,如何才能做到先学做人,再学做事呢?《先学做人再学做事全集(白金版)》作者主张:低调做人,进退自如;勇往直前,百折不挠;巧妙迎合,左右逢源;世事洞察,人情练达;克服自卑,树立信心。
  • 德安守御录下

    德安守御录下

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 待冰霜消融之际回来可好

    待冰霜消融之际回来可好

    “以吾之魂,只与你换一个唯诺的安好。”——千唯安“我说过我要护你周全,这是诺,不可违抗的诺。”——千唯诺“待冰雪消融之时,回来可好?”——封殇璃“我所做的你都看不见。”——夜吟“哼!童话果然都是骗小孩子的,哇!那位帅气的王子殿下等等我呀。”——(小唯安)“梦醒了,我也该醒了,是吧?我的王子殿下。”……被寒冰包裹着的心脏也被寒意渐渐所填满了,心跳的声音被我弄丢了,身躯最后的温度渐渐被剥夺,温热的鲜血落在纯洁的冰上,滴答滴答,嘻,多么美妙的声音啊,这是我送给你最后的乐曲哦,对了,那哀伤的舞能为了我最后跳一次吗?诺,答应我,活下去,为了你,倾尽所有。(欢迎加入乐阳,q群聊号码:833963617)
  • 上清三真旨要玉诀

    上清三真旨要玉诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 唐代诗风的开创者:初唐四杰

    唐代诗风的开创者:初唐四杰

    《唐代诗风的开创者——初唐四杰》为丛书之一,介绍了初唐王勃、杨炯、卢照邻、骆宾王四人的诗词创作。《唐代诗风的开创者——初唐四杰》中优美生动的文字、简明通俗的语言、图文并茂的形式,把中国文化中的物态文化、制度文化、行为文化、精神文化等知识要点全面展示给读者。
  • 青梅竹马小虎牙

    青梅竹马小虎牙

    两个认识十年的男孩女孩在大学毕业后相遇重逢,却发现彼此才是灵魂最合拍的的人,当年因为种种原因错过的青梅竹马终于认清内心开始彼此喜欢,一个爱喝娃哈哈,一个有枚小虎牙,两个温暖的灵魂开始了一场暖萌的恋爱。穿插年少时的回忆往事,经过这些年的错过遗憾才发现两人竟是彼此心中所求。原来所有的相遇都是冥冥中的注定,是一个关于重逢和错过的故事。
  • 无敌从仙尊奶爸开始

    无敌从仙尊奶爸开始

    薛安一去三千年,修成无上仙尊,可等回到地球后,却发现自己多了两个双胞胎女儿。“粑粑,这条龙味道不好吃啊!”“哦,这条祖龙活的年头太久了,肉有点柴,下次咱们吃一万年以内的小龙。”某条从宇宙开始就存在的巨龙躺在地上瑟瑟发抖中。“粑粑,你和别的仙帝奶爸什么的,谁厉害啊?”薛安一笑,没有谁能抵挡的住薛安一拳。如果有!那就两拳!“女儿,我会让你们成为全世界,不,全宇宙最幸福的公主!而且是两个!”书友群:788124860
  • 乱世至尊:笑揽江山雪

    乱世至尊:笑揽江山雪

    前一世,他是测谎专家,看透世人虚情假意,唯一信任的只有自己能抓在手里的一切;这一世,他是异世大陆上不受尊宠的世子,有着异于常人的血脉却天生体弱多病,权谋算计,赌命猜心,剑挑五洲,所向披靡,下得皇权,上窥天机。且看他如何逆转命运,独步天下,披靡众生,笑傲称神。
  • 我的男友有点儿病

    我的男友有点儿病

    沈伊刚刚大学毕业,父母便奋不顾身地奔向了资本主义社会的怀抱,去那里挥霍钱财,帮助其增长GDP。只留下了一间心理诊所和1000块生活费。沈伊现在很郁闷,已经一个月没有生意了,再这样就要饿死了。就在这时,脑海里响起一个声音来:我可以满足你的愿望。就这样,沈伊踏上了拯救精神病之旅。一号病人:幸存者的内疚二号病人:社交恐惧症三号病人:被害妄想症四号病人:抑郁症五号病人:幽闭恐惧症六号病人:多重人格渐渐地沈伊发现......情节虚构,请勿模仿