When once the shrinking dizzy spell was gone,
I saw below me, like a jeweled cup,
The valley hollowed to its heaven-kissed lip—­
The serrate green against the serrate blue—­
Brimming with beauty’s essence; palpitant
With a divine elixir—­lucent floods
Poured from the golden chalice of the sun,
At which my spirit drank with conscious growth,
And drank again with still expanding scope
Of comprehension and of faculty.

I felt the bud of being in me burst
With full, unfolding petals to a rose,
And fragrant breath that flooded all the scene. 
By sudden insight of myself I knew
That I was greater than the scene,—­that deep
Within my nature was a wondrous world,
Broader than that I gazed on, and informed
With a diviner beauty,—­that the things
I saw were but the types of those I held,
And that above them both, High Priest and King,
I stood supreme, to choose and to combine,
And build from that within me and without
New forms of life, with meaning of my own,
And then alone upon the mountain top,
Kneeling beside the lamb, I bowed my head
Beneath the chrismal light and felt my soul
Baptized and set apart for poetry.

—­Holland:  Katrina.

+Theme LXIX.+—­Write a description the purpose of which is to give an impression that you have experienced.

SUMMARY

1.  Description is that form of discourse which has for its
     purpose the creation of an image.

2.  The essential characteristics of a description are:—­
       a. A point of view,
            (1) It may be fixed or changing.
            (2) It may be expressed or implied.
            (3) Only those details should be included that can be seen
                 from the point of view chosen.
       b. A correct fundamental image.
       c. A few characteristic and essential details
            (1) Close observation on the part of the writer is necessary
                 in order to select the essential details.
       d. A proper selection and subordination of minor details.
       e. A suitable arrangement of details with reference to their
              natural position in space.
       f. That additional effectiveness which comes from
            (1) Proper choice of words.
            (2) Suitable comparisons and figures.
            (3) Variety of sentence structures.

3.  The foregoing principles of description apply in the describing of many
     classes of objects.  A description of a person usually gives some
     indication of his character and so becomes to some extent a character
     sketch.