DOI chapter:
Chapter I: Naples
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59000#0048
Naples
governing intellect of Italy should have its origin in
a town where such a condition of corruption exists ?
But secret societies have always played a great part in
Italian history, and no doubt always will.
The stranger would hardly guess at these facts, which
lie hidden beneath a smiling surface, beneath the volatile
and buoyant spirit of the inhabitants. And herein,
perhaps, we have the real charm of Naples ! In its vivid
contrast of light and shade, of misery and well-being,
of languor and buoyancy, there is the continual triumph
of the sun over the shadow,—in appearance at all events.
The Sun God seems ever transfixing the serpent with
his glittering shafts, and the luxuriant beauty of this land
spreads a golden veil over the misery of its inhabitants.
“O Natura cortese,
Son questi i doni tuoi,
Ouesti i deletti sono
Che tu porgi ai mortali.” 1
Here where the leaves of the trees laugh and gentle
breezes whisper through their branches, the drowsy
toiler in the sun seems half unburdened of his care.
In Naples the same changes which have transformed
Milan, and are transforming Florence, are at work.
All artists must deplore them, for they mean the sup-
planting of the old and picturesque by the purely useful
and banal. Where once narrow houses with roof-
1 “ O, gracious nature,
These are thy gifts,
These are the delights,
That thou givest to mortals.”
governing intellect of Italy should have its origin in
a town where such a condition of corruption exists ?
But secret societies have always played a great part in
Italian history, and no doubt always will.
The stranger would hardly guess at these facts, which
lie hidden beneath a smiling surface, beneath the volatile
and buoyant spirit of the inhabitants. And herein,
perhaps, we have the real charm of Naples ! In its vivid
contrast of light and shade, of misery and well-being,
of languor and buoyancy, there is the continual triumph
of the sun over the shadow,—in appearance at all events.
The Sun God seems ever transfixing the serpent with
his glittering shafts, and the luxuriant beauty of this land
spreads a golden veil over the misery of its inhabitants.
“O Natura cortese,
Son questi i doni tuoi,
Ouesti i deletti sono
Che tu porgi ai mortali.” 1
Here where the leaves of the trees laugh and gentle
breezes whisper through their branches, the drowsy
toiler in the sun seems half unburdened of his care.
In Naples the same changes which have transformed
Milan, and are transforming Florence, are at work.
All artists must deplore them, for they mean the sup-
planting of the old and picturesque by the purely useful
and banal. Where once narrow houses with roof-
1 “ O, gracious nature,
These are thy gifts,
These are the delights,
That thou givest to mortals.”