Rome: as Seen by a New-Yorker in 1843-4

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Wiley and Putnam, 1845 - Rome (Italy) - 216 pages

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Page 44 - I see before me the Gladiator lie : He leans upon his hand — his manly brow Consents to death, but conquers agony, And his droop'd head sinks gradually low — And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one, Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now The arena swims around him — he is gone, Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hail'd the wretch who won.
Page 57 - But man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing nativities and deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting ceremonies of bravery in the infamy of his nature.
Page 65 - And flowering weeds, and fragrant copses dress The bones of Desolation's nakedness, Pass, till the Spirit of the spot shall lead Thy footsteps to a slope of green access, Where, like an infant's smile, over the dead A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread.
Page 57 - Scipios* tomb contains no ashes now ; The very sepulchres lie tenantless Of their heroic dwellers : dost thou flow, Old Tiber ! through a marble wilderness ? Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress!
Page 65 - The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place.
Page 33 - While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; 'When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 'And when Rome falls — the World.
Page 71 - Latin language, and sometimes mark the periods when matters of faith were introduced. The inscriptions are frequently very touching : the influence of a purer creed is apparent in the constant reference to a state beyond the grave, which contrasts in a striking manner with the hopeless grief expressed in the Roman monuments.
Page 205 - With slow, reluctant, amorous delay," he leaves this paradise of taste ; and, although he has learned to prize more highly than ever the political and religious privileges of his own free land, still, when he calls to mind the proud Memories which have been inherited by the Romans — the bounties lavished by nature upon their lovely country — the genius and beauty which seem their birthright — what they have been, and what they may again be, and, beyond all doubt, eventually will be — he is...
Page 128 - Cucuzzol?. repiene" and it proved to be a stuffed gourd ! Another day I had been looking at some ancient columns of Cipollino marble, and afterwards finding the same name in the dinner list, I called for it from curiosity, remembering that Franklin had made saw-dust pudding, and thinking that the Romans might, perhaps, make marble-dust pie, but the Cipollino appeared in the form of fried onions! It was thus that I initiated myself in the mysteries of the Italian kitchen, and you may now profit by...
Page 167 - Whoever thou art, if free, do not fear here the shackles of laws. Go where thou wilt, seek what thou wishest, depart when thou pleasest. These things are prepared for strangers rather than for the master. He forbids me to impose severe restrictions on a well-mannered guest. Let good intents be here the only laws for a friend. But if any one, wilfully, knowingly, maliciously, should break the golden laws of urbanity, let him beware lest the provoked keeper should in turn break his tessera of friendship.

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