"Beneath the vine-clad slopes of Capri’s Isle, Which run down to the margin of that sea Whose waters kiss the sweet Parthenope, There is a grot whose rugged front the while Frowns only dark where all is seen to smile. But enter, and behold! surpassing fair The magic sight that meets your vision there,— Not heaven! with all its broad expanse of blue, Gleams colored with a sheen so rich, so rare, So changing in its clear, translucent hue; Glassed in the lustrous wave, the walls and roof Shine as does silver scattered o’er the woof Of some rich robe, or bright as stars whose light Inlays the azure concave of the night.You cannot find throughout this world, I ween, Waters so fair as those within this cave, Color like that which flashes from the wave, Or which is steeped in such cerulean sheen As here gleams forth within this grotto’s screen. And when the oar the boatman gently takes And dips it in the flood, a fiery glow, Ruddy as phosphor, stirs in depths below; Each ripple into burning splendor breaks, As though some hidden fires beneath did lie Waiting a touch to kindle into flame, And shine in radiance on the dazzled eye, As sparkling up from wells of light they came, To make this grot a glory far and nigh."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Charles D. Bell, "The Azure Grotto" in The Argonaut (9 January 1909), p. 21
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Capri
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Capri
6 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Capri →
Related Quotes
"Verbosa ac grandis epistola venit a Capreis."
"Tiberius took with him to Capri a number of learned Greek professors, and a picked force of soldiers, including his G…"
"What the mountainous Isle Seen in the South? ’Tis where a Monster dwelt, Hurling his victims from the topmost cliff; …"
"There is an isle, kissed by a smiling sea, Where all sweet confluents meet: a thing of heaven, A spent aërolite, that…"
"Many an archèd roof is bent Over the wave, But none like thine, from the firmament To the shells that at thy threshol…"
"O Milan, O the chanting quires, The giant windows’ blazon’d fires, The height, the space, the gloom, the glory! A mou…"
"Yes! pleased, on our land, from his azure way, The Sun ever smiles with unclouded ray. But never, fair isle, shall th…"
"Tarentum calls On you her wooers, no unworthy bride; Chief harbour, richest mart of Italy. Whither Philanthus, in Lac…"
"First of old of Oscan towns! Prize of triumphs, pearl of crowns; Half a thousand years have fled, Since arose thy roy…"
"And next Tarentum’s bay, Named, if report be true, from Hercules, Is seen; and opposite lifts up her head The goddess…"