Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Spiaggiascura | | Spiaggiascura | | Alfred Austin (1835–1913) |
| | (From The Human Tragedy)
THERE is a little city in the South, | |
| A silent little city by the sea, | |
| Where a stilled Alpine torrent finds its mouth, | |
| And billowy mountains subside smilingly. | |
| It knows nor weeping skies nor dewless drouth, | 5 |
| No seasons, save when April’s glancing glee | |
| Slow steadies unto Summer’s still-poised wing, | |
| Or mimic Winter lifts the mask from Spring. | |
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| Once on a time it was a famous city, | |
| Home of urbane humanities and strife, | 10 |
| When men were knightly still, and women witty, | |
| And court and camp with revelry were rife. | |
| Now is it hushed as long-forgotten ditty, | |
| Secluded almshouse of a bankrupt life, | |
| Refuge for him who, after days of riot, | 15 |
| Seeketh the safe monotony of quiet. | |
| |
| No traveller’s busy footstep cometh there, | |
| No pallid form, more painlessly to die; | |
| No gainful barter thither doth repair; | |
| Even the boatman’s oar and net pass by. | 20 |
| No clattering wheel and whip offend the air; | |
| Its streets but lead to mountain, sea, and sky, | |
| And, when gaunt Winter stalks our shivering isle, | |
| Bask, backed by hills, in ocean’s rippling smile. | | | | |
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