there carter paused in faintness at so much beauty , for the onyx terraces and colonnaded walks , the gay porterres and delicate flowering trees espaliered to golden lattices , the brazen urns and tripods with cunning bas-reliefs , the pedestalled and almost breathing statues of veined black marble , the basalt-bottomed lagoon 's tiled fountains with luminous fish , the tiny temples of iridescent singing birds atop carven columns , the marvellous scrollwork of the great bronze gates , and the blossoming vines trained along every inch of the polished walls all joined to form a sight whose loveliness was beyond reality , and half-fabulous even in the land of dreams .