The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and se a there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive of life. Each time that I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and it sdeeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is
In my thoughts of the shore, one place stands apart for its revelation of exquisite beauty. It is a pool hidden within a cave that one can visit only rarely and briefly when the lowest of the year's low tides fall below it, and perhaps from that very fact it acquires some of its special beauty. Choosing such a tide , I hoped for a glimpse of the pool. The ebb was to fall early in the morning. I knew that if the wind held from the northwest and no interfering swell ran in from a distant storm the level of the sea should drop below the entrance to the pool. There had been sudden ominous showers in the night, with rain like handfuls of gravel flung on the roof. When I looked out into the early morning the sky was full of a gray dawn light but the sun had not yet risen. Water and air were pallid. Across the bay the moon was a luminous disc in the western sky, suspended above the dim line of distant shore -- the full August moon, drawing the tide to the low, low levels of the threshold of the alien sea world. As I watched, a gull flew by, above the spruces. Its breast was rosy with the light of the unrisen sun. The day was, after all, to be fair.
Later, as I stood above the tide near the entrance to the pool, the promise of that rosy light was sustained. From the base of the steep wall of rock on which I stood, a moss covered ledge jutted seaward into deep water. In the surge at the rim of the ledge the dark fronds of oarweeds swayed smooth and gleaming as leather. The projecting ledge was the path to the small hidden cave and its pool. Occasionally a swell, stronger than the rest, rolled smoothly over the rim and broke in foam against the cliff. But the intervals between such swells were lo ng enough to admit me to the ledge and long enough for a glimpse of that fairy pool, so seldom and so briefly exposed.
And so I knelt on the wet carpet of sea moss and looked back into the dark cavern that held the pool in a shallow basin. The floor of the cave was only a fewinches below the roof, and a mirror had been created in which all that grew on the ceiling was reflected in the still water below.
Under water that was clear as glass the pool was carpeted with green sponge. Gray patches of sea squirts glistened on the ceiling and colonies of raft coral were a pale apricot color. In the moment when I looked into the cave a little e lfin starfish hung down, suspended by the merest thread, perhaps by only a single tube foot. It reached down to touch its own reflection, so perfectly delineated that there might have been, not one starfish, but two. The beauty of the refle cted images and of the limpid pool itself was the poignant beauty of things that are ephemeral, existing only until the sea should return to fill the little cave.
相关单词：relentless
relentless解释：adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的
relentless例句：
The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。
相关单词：awareness
awareness解释：n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智
awareness例句：
There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
相关单词：fabric
fabric解释：n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织
fabric例句：
The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
相关单词：exquisite
exquisite解释：adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的
exquisite例句：
I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
相关单词：briefly
briefly解释：adv.简单地，简短地
briefly例句：
I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
相关单词：ebb
ebb解释：vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态
ebb例句：
The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。
相关单词：interfering
interfering解释：adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词
interfering例句：
He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。
相关单词：swell
swell解释：vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强
swell例句：
The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。
相关单词：ominous
ominous解释：adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的
ominous例句：
Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
相关单词：gravel
gravel解释：n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石
gravel例句：
We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
相关单词：pallid
pallid解释：adj.苍白的，呆板的
pallid例句：
The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid face.月亮从云朵后面钻出来，照着尸体那张苍白的脸。
His dry pallid face often looked gaunt.他那张干瘪苍白的脸常常显得憔悴。
相关单词：luminous
luminous解释：adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的
luminous例句：
There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。
相关单词：gull
gull解释：n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈
gull例句：
The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。
相关单词：rosy
rosy解释：adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的
rosy例句：
She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。
相关单词：moss
moss解释：n.苔，藓，地衣
moss例句：
Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。
相关单词：ledge
ledge解释：n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁
ledge例句：
They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。
相关单词：jutted
jutted解释：v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出
jutted例句：
A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。
His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：rim
rim解释：n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界
rim例句：
The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。
相关单词：fronds
fronds解释：n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 )
fronds例句：
You can pleat palm fronds to make huts, umbrellas and baskets. 人们可以把棕榈叶折叠起来盖棚屋，制伞，编篮子。 来自百科语句
When these breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper. 微风吹到平台时，棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：smoothly
smoothly解释：adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地
smoothly例句：
The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
相关单词：foam
foam解释：v./n.泡沫，起泡沫
foam例句：
The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
相关单词：intervals
intervals解释：n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息
intervals例句：
The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
相关单词：swells
swells解释：增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）
swells例句：
The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。
相关单词：cavern
cavern解释：n.洞穴，大山洞
cavern例句：
The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。
相关单词：glistened
glistened解释：v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )
glistened例句：
Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
相关单词：perfectly
perfectly解释：adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
perfectly例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
相关单词：limpid
limpid解释：adj.清澈的，透明的
limpid例句：
He has a pair of limpid blue eyes.他有一双清澈的蓝眼睛。
The sky was a limpid blue,as if swept clean of everything.碧空如洗。
相关单词：poignant
poignant解释：adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的
poignant例句：
His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。
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