 | Graffiti d'Italia |  |
308
CASTEL GANDOLFO.
[Dedicated to L. C.]
The fountain on the moonlight plays,
And old Castello's turrets rise
Darkly against the silvery skies,
And voices laugh along the ways.
And old Castello's turrets rise
Darkly against the silvery skies,
And voices laugh along the ways.
The moonlight sleeps upon the square;
And from the castellated town
The sharp dark blocks of shadow thrown
Lie cut out in the whiteness there.
And from the castellated town
The sharp dark blocks of shadow thrown
Lie cut out in the whiteness there.
Among the trees the luccioli
Show fitfully their wandering light,
And far away across the night
The owl prolongs his dreary cry.
Show fitfully their wandering light,
309
The owl prolongs his dreary cry.
How still! how exquisitely still!
No sound disturbs the silentness
Save the untiring cricket's stress,
And the continuous fountain's spill.
No sound disturbs the silentness
Save the untiring cricket's stress,
And the continuous fountain's spill.
The weeds along the old grey wall
Hang moveless, casting spots of shade;
And all is beautified, and made
More perfect where the moonbeams fall.
Hang moveless, casting spots of shade;
And all is beautified, and made
More perfect where the moonbeams fall.
What magic light that thus can hide
The ravages of time, and grace
The commonest and meanest place,
And veil the earth as 'twere a bride!
The ravages of time, and grace
The commonest and meanest place,
And veil the earth as 'twere a bride!
On such a night Diana kissed
Endymion's brow the while he slept,
As noiselessly to him she crept
Enshrouded in a silver mist.
Endymion's brow the while he slept,
As noiselessly to him she crept
Enshrouded in a silver mist.
310
Oh! pass not, perfect night, from us,
But stay with us and crown our love!
Sing, from the shadowy ilex grove—
Sing, nightingale, for ever thus!
But stay with us and crown our love!
Sing, from the shadowy ilex grove—
Sing, nightingale, for ever thus!
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