Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . GE NEAR SORRENTO. the Roman Republic, the proud inhabitants of the capital came to this city, which boastedof the special protection of Bacchus and Venus, to enjoy sunny leisure, And at thepresent day the sons and daughters of the green islands of Britain, sick children fromdistant Russia, and people from all the ends of the earth come hither. A path leads downfrom the steep and lofty cliffs on which the town is situated, through a narrow gorge, tothe sea-beach, where, on a strip of sand between the waves and the vineyards, the fisher- 3 g 4io ITAL Y. mens h
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . GE NEAR SORRENTO. the Roman Republic, the proud inhabitants of the capital came to this city, which boastedof the special protection of Bacchus and Venus, to enjoy sunny leisure, And at thepresent day the sons and daughters of the green islands of Britain, sick children fromdistant Russia, and people from all the ends of the earth come hither. A path leads downfrom the steep and lofty cliffs on which the town is situated, through a narrow gorge, tothe sea-beach, where, on a strip of sand between the waves and the vineyards, the fisher- 3 g 4io ITAL Y. mens houses stand. This spot is the haunt of mirth and jollity on festivals and summerevenings ; the people sing and dance to the rhythmic beat of the tambourine, and theirbrown faces glow with enjoyment and wine, which beams red and clear in huge fine ladies on the terraces above,—for the most part delicate, fragile, sickly-lookingcreatures,—and the spruce gentlemen, eye-glass in eye, lean over the balcony of the hotel,. TASSOS HOUSE, SORRENTO. and wonder where these active lads, and dark-eyed lasses, get the strength to dance on asthey do, hour after hour! From Sorrento, four boatmen row us in a couple of hours to Capri, which rises siren-like and enticing from the waves. But we mean to double Cape Minerva ; we are boundfor Amain :—a strong epic after a sweet lyric! A stern Odyssean landscape after theenchanted gardens of Armida ! Beyond Sorrento the shore grows more and more deserted ; but numerous remainsupon the rocks half eaten away by the sea, indicate the former existence here of busy andprosperous life. There are fragments of baths and villas, the most poetical of which isthe Bath of Diana : a miniature haven, a still, calm basin between walls of natural rock,and of masonry which has become as hard as the rock itself. Elsewhere, the waves mayfoam and toss, but here they hold their breath and listen to the bathing nymphs. Outside,
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcavagnasangiulianidig, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870
