eBooks Base 2000

They climb about the sculpture of fountains,
rear themselves against pillars and porticos, run brimming over the
walls, and strew the path with their falling leaves. We stole a few, and
feel that we have wronged our consciences in not stealing more. In one
part of the grounds we saw a field actually ablaze with scarlet poppies.
There are great lagunas; fountains presided over by naiads, who squirt
their little jets into basins; sunny lawns; a temple, so artificially
ruined that we half believed it a veritable antique; and at its base a
reservoir of water, in which stone swans seemed positively to float;
groves of cypress; balustrades and broad flights of stone stairs,
descending to lower levels of the garden; beauty, peace, sunshine, and
antique repose on every side; and far in the distance the blue hills that
encircle the campagna of Rome. The day was very fine for our purpose;
cheerful, but not too bright, and tempered by a breeze that seemed even a
little too cool when we sat long in the shade.


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