the midday sun
And the green ran down to a white beach , and on the beach foamy waves curled like a man 's beard . And in the air the town quivered and danced , as imaged trees seem to dance on running water ... . On one side was Ireland , and _ on one _ side was Scotland , and high in the air between them was Dancing Town ... . No one was in the streets that wee Shane could see , and yet the town was lifeful , some tropical city where the green jalousies were closed in the heat of the midday sun , and where no one was on the streets , barring some unseen old beggar or peddling woman drowsing in the shade . The town was sleeping not with the sleep of Scotland , that is the sleep of dead majestic , melancholy kings , nor with the sleep of Ireland , that is tired and harassed and old . It was not as lonely as sleeping lakes are where the bittern booms like a drum ... . It slept as a child sleeps , lips apart and chubby fingers uncurled , and happy ... .