Our part of the veranda did not hang over the gorge, but edged the meadow where half a dozen large and sleek horses had stopped grazing to join us.

to drag somebody head and shoulders

A well of serious thought and pure, / Too deep for earthly light.

Bodies in and of themselves lack spissitude. But since, in nature, all bodies are permeated by spirit of some kind, the ability of a complex body to maintain its size indicates a certain, constant spissitude.