Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic Ocean is rich in oceanic liveliness all the time. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets. “Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic Ocean. When the wind is from the west All the waves that cannot rest To the east must thunder on Where the bright tree of the sun Is rooted in the ocean’s breast. As the poem suggests, the Atlantic Ocean is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise---it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing and whistling. It is easy to imagine the Atlantic Ocean trying to draw breath----perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It imitates nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with co-living existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking. 小题1:Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is __________.
|