I am very much enjoying venividi, the photo blog of a polish architect in Cork (which he has kindly called Rain only makes it better) particularly his recent photos of the undulating Tuscan landscape.
Having commented thus on one of his entries he used my word (and credited it to me ) to title a later posting.
This made me remember where I came across the word for the first time.
It was in the famous storm scene in David Copperfield where Dickens gives us a wonderful tempestuous crescendo to the novel.
Here it is ;

“The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out deep caves in the beach, as if its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white-headed billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys, undulating valleys (with a solitary storm-bird sometimes skimming through them) were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings, rose and fell; the clouds fell fast and thick; I seemed to see a rending and upheaving of all nature.”