New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-30

blasphemcr. I am excessively tired The
strain Of Michael MIchelangelos life was eno,.
nous on me for year. What a trying liz
to the nerves is that Of the artist, am m,
sure whether 1t Is fair to present in attrac,ly.
form emotions which are not recognized Nv
society. was asked today IL I was
Believer. l replied that was a believer enough
to have written a Christmas lullaby and thre.
Latin hymns. / DO not think that marriage
has any influence either for good or for bad
upon the artistic temperament Beauty and
Art may be the Cause Of much pain TO US But
then it is the case OF Balnea yria Venus they
make up life. E. The study OF Walt Whitman
was written right off. / spent twelve long days
solely on its composition. and in that time com.
pleted it. should like to end my days In
some retreat. sequestered. thinking Of night tina,
comes. restrained from all volltOn. performing
to the end some simple task OF eruiiiion"
Symonds spent the last months Of his Ike in
Italy He made Venice his headquarters and
from his apartment on the Zattere. in October
1892 he wrote to Mr. Jackson the following
letter:
My dear Jackson: 1t is Of those evenings
| charged with an inexplicabe melancholy and
! what the French call 'inilcible tristese" Out
side upon the broad Canal Of the C!UGccca fog.
/ horns are calling from SrdgDlnS steamers. and
low and then the weird sting OF sren-lkc a
writhing sound serpent or Banshees cry
shivers from nowhere. no whittier. through the
Opaque mist.
! 1 always like my life here when am alone
| / have fair bedrooms. the sunnest o. which
use as my own scribblng- place In early spring
or autumn; a fairly large sitting room, with five
small windows in a row. a dinlng-roOm next the
| kitchen. and Angelo for factotum. with his wife
for cook. 1t is little paradise for a bachelor
| And then such view, And all the shifting
crowd, soldiers. sailors. facchn in triple blues
girls with lovers. gnarled old men, jus, under
my nose, for am in an entreSOl
My life is being spent too much among the
great of this world. The Empress Frederick Is
| here with her daughter Margaret. and the nice
young Prince of Hesse-somethng. who is the
| girls fiance They make considerable demands
on my society. and | am always plying IN my
gondola 6atween this house and their palace on
the Grand Canal N'importe IL Is good for
man to live in both worlds. The other world Is
| Augusta. and a little old-fashiOned wine-shop
| in a garden Of vines. where the gOniOllers con-
| gregate There many charming hlSh-bred
women in the circle OF the Empress my oh
! friend the Contessa Almiro Pisan. the Marches
| Giucciol the Grain Won WohenSteIn. ne Prin-
cess Hatzfeldt. Lady Layard. Mrs. Eden Mrs
| Sargent Curtis. one has 10 come ana I'VE In
Venice to how the various strata ~ society
flow into each other naturally. and can De en-
| joyed by one and the same person daily, WIKI
out any dslocation Of conventions.
The days go so nonchalantly that one reAhzes
that desire Of Coughs. Were life but Ike the
gondola" There have been succession Of san.
| sumptuous autumn days: tho lagoons asecr
gently heaving, in long undulations. hcneaih
| the immense vault Of varied srays, moiu.1ting
! from the Warmest violet To the coolest slly
hues MOurnful pageants Of sunset, hanging
roses and flakes Of crimson fire over the Whole
expanse Of heavens pavilion. And tnrn. Sun
,.,;... ,.,ht -
when the cOncave Of the SKY, mingled IN me
concaye OF the water. made one sphere %, mys-
FERROUS blue. moving about in which was IKE be-
ing in the midst or some pale. milkF SlliNfe ~
luminous with moonlight suifusei into the yapos
Slhouettes Of churches rnasis Of Snips blurred
and estampes into shadows. Leai-cogered
domes and roofs drenched with Gc". glisieNlhs
! like dull silver. Only. al Intervals tohs tne
quays. lamps dilated into globes with golden
! shadows saggng down along the imp rcepthe
azure of the water floor. a divine Wh.ster.an
! symphony. with indefinite space ana inlmiiabe
delicacy Of superintendent detail added
This is the mood which blurs my soul tonight
in solitude while the Princess Margaret ana ne
Prince of Hesse are acting charades 81 ,spe'c
and Sir Henry Llyard Is presenting "A copy u
nv "MichelangclO" TO the Empress FREDERICK
symonds died on April 49, 1913. IL had been
visiting Sir James I.acaita al his villa near
laramie Mr.. oscar Browning saw him in sooo
health apparently at Naples. Tie Was wen
enough to go up Vesuvius on a bad day a
telegram came from Venice announcing hs
wife's illness there. He started at once for me
north. but on the way his health suddenly gave
out and he died at Rome. lie was buried III INC
| English cemetery not far from the grave
Shelley. whose life. by the way. he had written
In one OF the best monographs in the EnsiAa