书城外语澳大利亚学生文学读本(第6册)
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第50章 ClOuD pICTuRES

Sometimes we see a cloud that"s dragonish; A vapour sometimes like a bear or lion,A towered citadel, a pendent rock,A forkèd mountain, or blue promontory, With trees upon"t, that nod unto the world, And mock our eyes with air.

Shakespeare.

Author.-William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire, 1564, and died there in 1616. He is regarded as the world"s greatest dramatist and poet. Among his early plays are Lore"s Labour"s Lost, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Comedy of Errors; to the second period belong A Midsummer Night"s Dream, As You Like It, etc.; to the third period the great tragedies of Julius C?sar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra; to the last period Cymbeline, A Winter"s Tale, The Tempest, and the Sonnets.

General Notes.-This brief extract is from Antony and Cleopatra. To what things does Shakespeare compare the clouds ? Which do you think is the aptest comparison? Write a little essay on cloud forms or make a drawing of them.