Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . g light grows redthe shepherd collects his flocks, and leads them to some lower meadow in a sheltered spotamong the hills. Here he sticks sharp stakes into the ground, connects them togetherwith wide-meshed netting, and folds the sheep there for the night, pressed closely oneagainst the other to gain shelter from the keen mountain air. As soon as the nightbegins to fall the shepherds assemble together for companys sake, and as a protectionagainst damp vapours from the valley and against prowling wolves, they light huge firesaround which they lie or sit in a
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . g light grows redthe shepherd collects his flocks, and leads them to some lower meadow in a sheltered spotamong the hills. Here he sticks sharp stakes into the ground, connects them togetherwith wide-meshed netting, and folds the sheep there for the night, pressed closely oneagainst the other to gain shelter from the keen mountain air. As soon as the nightbegins to fall the shepherds assemble together for companys sake, and as a protectionagainst damp vapours from the valley and against prowling wolves, they light huge firesaround which they lie or sit in a circle. Then may be heard their melancholy long-drawnsongs, chanted to quaint antique melodies. The words are usually about love, and some-times they even treat the passion in a tone of mockery. But the tunes—whosoever hasonce heard them cannot forget them : it is as if some long-hidden and inarticulate sorrowof his own had found expression in them. As the summer advances the flocks mount higher and higher into the hills, and may. THE NORTHERN WANDERER IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA. 299 be found amidst the well-watered pastures in the neighbourhood of Lago Fucino, and asfar as the Napoletano. In autumn, when the reapers and vintagers return to theirmountain homes from the lower Campagna, the flocks, consisting very often of as many asfive, or ten, thousand sheep, make their way down to the plain again, in order to pass thewinter in the milder climate of the districts bordering the coast. These returning flocks,led by shepherds and their dogs, and with the owner mounted on horseback behind them,offer a new and curious spectacle, and many a road is encumbered for days by bleatingsheep, barking restless dogs, and clouds of impenetrable dust. Such is the poetry of the Roman Campagna. It is ever young, like the poetry ofhumanity, and if your soul has once been touched by it you can never more forget will hear its old tunes sounding, sounding in your ears : its glowing tints will br
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcavagnasangiulianidig, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870
