midnight
Only in summer days of highest feather did its mood touch the level of gaiety . Intensity was more usually reached by way of the solemn than by way of the brilliant , and such a sort of intensity was often arrived at during winter darkness , tempests , and mists . Then Egdon was aroused to reciprocity ; for the storm was its lover , and the wind its friend . Then it became the home of strange phantoms ; and it was found to be the hitherto unrecognized original of those wild regions of obscurity which are vaguely felt to be compassing us about in midnight dreams of flight and disaster , and are never thought of after the dream till revived by scenes like this . It was at present a place perfectly accordant with man 's nature -- neither ghastly , hateful , nor ugly ; neither commonplace , unmeaning , nor tame ; but , like man , slighted and enduring ; and withal singularly colossal and mysterious in its swarthy monotony . As with some persons who have long lived apart , solitude seemed to look out of its countenance . It had a lonely face , suggesting tragical possibilities .