On the other
hand, when the ground is thoroughly wet and evaporation is active,
capillary attraction tends to unite earth and clouds, and rain
results. We all know that hill-tops receive showers which frequently
pass over the vales without falling, probably because of the greater
proximity of the hills. In a long drought a violent thunderstorm,
which soaks the ground, will often be followed by a complete change of
weather, as the result of contact established between the earth and
the clouds.
The best description I know of a really hot and cloudless day is that
by Coleridge in the _Ancient Mariner_:
"The sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he;
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea."
The succession of monosyllables expresses most forcibly the monotony
of a day of blazing sunshine, unruffled by a cloud; and the absence of
incident illustrates the remorseless march of the dominant sun across
the heavens.
Very little of my time has been spent in London or any other town, and
my early recollections of passing through London on my way to or from
school after or before the holidays are of very depressing weather
conditions--fog, greasy streets and pavements, or a sun veiled in a
haze of smoky vapour. Even when I went to Lord's annually in July to
see the Eton and Harrow match my recollection of the weather is of
dull, sultry heat and oppression of spirits.
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