DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0036
6
POMPEII
in places, its summit standing out against the sky in a long,
beautiful profile, which, toward the right, breaks up into bold,
rugged notches; the side of the mountain below is richly di-
versified with deep valleys, projecting ridges, and terraces that
in the distance seem - like steps, where among vineyards and
olive orchards stand two villages fair to look on, Gragnano
and Lettere, so near that individual houses can be clearly
distinguished. Further west the plain before us opens out
upon the sea, while the mountains are continued in the pre-
cipitous coast of the peninsula of Sorrento. Height crowds
upon height, with villages wreathed in olive orchards lying
between. Here the hills descend in terraces to the sea, covered
with vegetation to the water’s edge; there the covering of soil
has been cast off from the steep slopes, exposing the naked
rock, which shines in the afternoon sun with a reddish hue that
wonderfully accords with the dark shades of the foliage and the
brilliant blue of the sea. Further on the tints become duller,
and the sight is blurred ; only with effort can we distinguish Sor-
rento, resting on cliffs that rise almost perpendicularly from the
line of the shore. Further still the outline of the peninsula
sinks into the sea and gives place to Capri, island of fantastic
shape, whose crags rising sheer from the water stand out
sharply in the bright sunlight.
But we look toward the north, and the splendid variety of
form and color vanishes; there stands only the vast, sombre
mass of the great destroyer, Vesuvius, towering above the city
and the plain. The sun as it nears the horizon veils the bare
ashen cone with a mantle of deep violet, while the cloud of
smoke that rises from the summit shines with a golden glow.
Far above the base the sides are covered with vineyards, among
which small groups of white houses can here and there be seen.
West of us the outline of the mountain descends in a strong,
simple curve to the sea. Just before it blends with the
shore there rise behind it distant heights wrapped in blue
haze, the first of moderate elevation, then others more promi-
nent and further to the left. They are the heights along the
north shore of the Bay of Naples — Gaurus crowned with
the monastery of Camaldoli, famous for its magnificent view;
POMPEII
in places, its summit standing out against the sky in a long,
beautiful profile, which, toward the right, breaks up into bold,
rugged notches; the side of the mountain below is richly di-
versified with deep valleys, projecting ridges, and terraces that
in the distance seem - like steps, where among vineyards and
olive orchards stand two villages fair to look on, Gragnano
and Lettere, so near that individual houses can be clearly
distinguished. Further west the plain before us opens out
upon the sea, while the mountains are continued in the pre-
cipitous coast of the peninsula of Sorrento. Height crowds
upon height, with villages wreathed in olive orchards lying
between. Here the hills descend in terraces to the sea, covered
with vegetation to the water’s edge; there the covering of soil
has been cast off from the steep slopes, exposing the naked
rock, which shines in the afternoon sun with a reddish hue that
wonderfully accords with the dark shades of the foliage and the
brilliant blue of the sea. Further on the tints become duller,
and the sight is blurred ; only with effort can we distinguish Sor-
rento, resting on cliffs that rise almost perpendicularly from the
line of the shore. Further still the outline of the peninsula
sinks into the sea and gives place to Capri, island of fantastic
shape, whose crags rising sheer from the water stand out
sharply in the bright sunlight.
But we look toward the north, and the splendid variety of
form and color vanishes; there stands only the vast, sombre
mass of the great destroyer, Vesuvius, towering above the city
and the plain. The sun as it nears the horizon veils the bare
ashen cone with a mantle of deep violet, while the cloud of
smoke that rises from the summit shines with a golden glow.
Far above the base the sides are covered with vineyards, among
which small groups of white houses can here and there be seen.
West of us the outline of the mountain descends in a strong,
simple curve to the sea. Just before it blends with the
shore there rise behind it distant heights wrapped in blue
haze, the first of moderate elevation, then others more promi-
nent and further to the left. They are the heights along the
north shore of the Bay of Naples — Gaurus crowned with
the monastery of Camaldoli, famous for its magnificent view;