From the proud mart of Pisa, 2 Heavy with fair-hair'd slaves; Tall are the oaks whose acorns Fat are the stags that champ the boughs 1 Marseilles. Trireme -a vessel of three benches of oars, first built by the Corinthians. The ancients had their two, three, four, and five-benched galleys, and among the vessels framed in Phoenicia and sent to Babylon for Alexander the Great, we find some of thirty oars. The masts of the galleys were not fixed, but raised only when the sail was to be used. The principal weapon of the galley was the strong beak of brass or iron (rostrum) fixed to its head. The object therefore in an attack was, either first to bring the rostrum to bear directly against the enemy's broadside, or, if that could not be effected, by an oblique impulse to dash away some of his oars. By the success of the former movement a galley was often sunk, by that of the latter it became unmanageable until the oars could be replaced, and gave the opportunity for the more decisive attack with the beak. Hence the importance of oars in action by them alone could attacks be made, warded, or avoided in every direction. 3 Clanis, the river Chiana, which gives its name to the valley through which it runs. Cortona retains its original circuit of Etruscan walls, though repaired in several places. 5 Auser, a river of Etruria, which falls into the Arno. 6 Viterbo is situated at the foot of Mount Cimino, whose dense forests formed a barrier of Etruria against Rome. Beyond all streams Clitumnus 1 But now no stroke of woodmen Grazes the milk-white steer; The harvests of Arretium 3, Shall plunge the struggling sheep; A river near Spoleto, formerly celebrated for the whiteness of the flocks that grazed on its banks, and now for the beautiful little Corinthian temple which stands on the acclivity of a bank overlooking its crystal waters near their source, so beautifully described by Lord Byron : And on thy happy shore a Temple still, Its memory of thee; beneath it sweeps Down where the shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales. • Bolsena, supposed to be the ancient Volscinium, is seated on the magnificent lake of the same name, celebrated, in the time of Pliny, for its floating islands. When destroyed by the Romans it contained two thousand statues: the present town does not contain more than fifteen hundred inhabitants! 3 Arezzo, celebrated for its red embossed pottery. Umbro, a river (Ombrone) near which the Etruscan city Rusellæ was situated. And in the vats of Luna1, This year, the must shall foam There be thirty chosen prophets, Have turn'd the verses o'er, Trac'd from the right on linen white And with one voice the Thirty To Clusium's royal dome; And hang round Nurscia's altars 2 The golden shields of Rome." MACAULAY. THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. YE hermits blest, ye holy maids, * Who talk with God in shadowy glades, 1 Luna, on the Macra, the boundary of Etruria. Its ruins are still to be seen near Sarzana. The Carrara marble was shipped from this port, and was thence called Luna marble by the Romans. The ancient walls of Luna were built of solid blocks of white marble. An Etruscan goddess, held in the highest veneration. To whom some viewless teacher brings The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale: Say, when in pity ye have gaz'd On the wreath'd smoke afar, That o'er some town, like mist uprais'd, To the green earth and open sky, Were ye not fain to doubt how Faith could dwell Amid that dreary glare, in this world's citadel? But Love's a flower that will not die And Christian hope can cheer the eye Then be ye sure that love can bless thou art nought to us, nor we to thee There are in this loud stunning tide Of human care and crime, With whom the melodies abide Of th' everlasting chime; Who carry music in their heart Through dusty lane and wrangling mart, Plying their daily task with busier feet, Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. KEBLE. THE FIRE-FLY. THERE is an insect, that, when evening comes, Unsheaths his wings and thro' the woods and glades Each gush of light a gush of extacy; 1 In the mother's lap Well may the child put forth his little hands, Singing the nursery-song he learnt so soon, And the young nymph, preparing for the dance By brook or fountain-side, in many a braid Wreathing her golden hair, well may she cry, "Come hither; and the shepherds, gathering round, Shall say, Floretta emulates the night, Spangling her head with stars." Oft have I met This shining race, when in the Tusculan groves There is a song to the lucciola in every dialect of Italy. Lake Albano. The present town of Albano stands at a short distance from the lake, about fifteen miles from Rome, and is built on the site of Pompey's villa. It consists chiefly of one long street, inhabited by the Roman nobles. On the banks of the lake is Castel Gandolfo, the country residence of the Pope. The ilexes, or evergreen oaks, which shade the walk from this place to Albano, are some of the largest in Italy. |