The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1884-08-08
The Gardens Of Rome.

Rome is the city of gardens. Where
else can we recall such masses of ever
green yerdure. such thickets of aloe
and lentisk, such groves of umbrage-
Gus pines, empowering the vast and
stately palaces within the walls?
While the villas beyond their stern
enclosure are set in clipped silences of
box and yew, and shaded by solemn
groves OF lex and bay, others Qike the
Wo,konsky) are spauned BY huge ruins
OF aqueduct or bridge, iyy-clad or
tangled with roses, and starred with
anemone and cyclamen in lavish and
lovely profusion. And all alike are
vocal with murmurous flow of tinkling
waters and fantastic shapes of Triton
and Nereid 1.-THE maidenhair mantles,
the marble basins with its delicate
fronds. and The sunshine Steals through
the boHalk-.s,-s,l2 tho fancy cenjures Ip
tho syi vian q atsfSosed god4f dGEt76y
so Wild, clash of cymbal and horn,
upon the leye. lawns, while Hemadry-
ads crouch ans listen amid their lesfy
boughs. The Church of st. Sabina
has appropriated the site and stately
marble columns yet up in honor OF the
gods The grea st. Dominic once
abode in the adjoining cenSent and
planted certain orange tree, still Wig
Orous and green, and covered with
flowers and fruit. Hither. too, fed st.
Thomas Aquinas, pursued by his moth
er's tears and lamentations to the very
door of the monastery; and within the
walls of the church st. Gregory read
his famous Homilies for the building
dates from the fourth century, as an
inscription ia mosaic testities. st. Sa-
bina lies beneath the altar.
The Ludovisi gardens, widely rang
ing and richly planted, offer as their
proud contribution to Roman heritages
Guercino's beautiful fresco Of the Dawn
driving her horses up the pearly slopes
of heaven. The light of the newborn
day is upon Der face; the faint breeze
gently lifts her hair; flowers are scat
tered beneath her chariot wheels. Be-
fore her speed the flying Hours. bear
ing their unknown gifts 10 men:
.sThe slow sweet hours that bring US ali things
The slow sad hours that bring us all things
III"
Behind the car, the beautiful Genius
of the Day, bearing the torch, occupies
one of the alcOves of the summer house.
Opposite sits woman with a book on
her knee, sleeping child beside her,
and around her fit the wide winged
birds of night.
The gallery of statuary boasts the
Ludovisi Juno, colossal, stately, divine
~ fair. Silence reigns upon her parted
lips; the calm of majestic repose rests
upon her serene and level brOws. Hers
"'that large utterance of the earthly
GODS which, when she speaks, viii
compel US 10 silence. In the amplar
either, amid which she is wont to dwell.
what knows she OF our world of petty
woe? where, as old Hesiod puts it, by
day as well as by night. diseases I'M
hidden haunt mankind, silently bearing
ills to meE.n But of all these her
colossal loneliness knows nothing, save
''that the gods themselves cannot recall
their gifts, and time is one. Such is
tbs LI .,9sa s I'm aIo. Mo taa. has
would, forget that fragment cf Greek
culture there. so jealousy preserved
that has relief, | mean, of Mercury
Withdrawing Eurydice from her hus-
bands arms? Words can give no ides
of the tender grace of the attitudes, OF
the truth, the nature, the pathos OF
these figures. Her hand rests upon his
shoulder; his clasps hers with such
passion of affection that the messenger
of the gods. though he relaxes not his
grasp, vet by slight movement OF his
entwining arm expresses that he gazes
not unmoyed upon their tender and en-
trancinp farewell. This fragment
should be. Tic is not, the despair of the
modern world, as il is truly one OF the
most consummate triumPhs OF genius
and art
But the Doria Pamphili gardens sum-
mons us to gather cyclamen and hya-
einth amid their shades and waters and
groves and lawns. This was once the
garden of Galba, and upon the green
and level lawn stands little heatnen
altar representing the Plus Antonius
Imp, sacrificing to his household gods
No sod here is ever turned or soil re-
moved. but fragments OF sculpture, sar'
cophagi. busts and cippi or funeral urns
are brouohtto light; and the columbaria
are singuIarly interesting and perfect.
In square chamber approached by n
stair and door are the many inches:
each of which contains in its pictured
urn the ashes and half-eonsumed bones
of some dead and gone Roman OF I'm.
periaI time. The walls are ornamented
with graceful arabesques OF bird and
flower and genii and fruit. A group OF
dwarfs disturbed in their antics by 8
crocodile advancing from lake IS curl
ously grotesque. In an instant we are
transported back some twenty centuries
as we linper over the sharply cut and
graceful Inscriptions TO the conjux dull
cissime. or the loved aud lamented tilii
ct filie of those long past days Within
a single recess several cippi are not I'M
FREQUENTLY accommodated, with praise
worthy economy of space. 1t is said
that extensive catacombs range from
these princely gardens to Rome, OF
which the view, seen through the stems
of the pines and lick groves, is one OF
the mos delightful imaginable, and
prompts one to exclalm, with Shelley:
30 Romel o lifei time!
On whose last steps / climb
When will return the glory OF your primer
London Society.