'I have wandered on the wilderness
The great wilderness men call life
The rain has beaten me,
And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives'

For the writer of these lines, living in an experience to be described as

'A clear, frosty night. Unusual brilliance and perfection of everything visible. Earth, sky, moon, and stars, all seem cemented, riveted together by the first. Shadows of trees be across the paths, so sharp that they seemed carved in relief. You keep thinking you see dark figures endlessly cross the road at various places'.
This passage achieves its beautiful effect partly because of its repeated appeal to the sense of

'He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and children in their houses could hear him breath'. This passage achieves vividness through the use of