Brief recollections, chiefly of Italy / by an amateur.

  • Charles Badham
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Brief recollections, chiefly of Italy / by an amateur. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Or, weary of thy country’s coxcomb breed, And wondrous sameness of the Saxon face, The pomp of waters wouldst behold indeed ? No peopled marts those gushing sources grace; The brow suffused, the toilsome step there need, Ere thou shalt gaze from that unfrequent place On glowing roofs, or hear th’ iEolian hymn Which broods eternal o’er that fountain’s brim.* Spann d by the purple bow, ’midst glittering spray Of missile showers uplaunched those courts within, Lo! the twin rivals, who the live long day Stand shouting hoarse defiance! ’midst the din Of deafening waters, or the fitful sway Of alpine Bise, that rakes the thundering linn. As from the rock, in fainting Israel’s flight, So leap the springs to life, where Pontiffs smite.f * The greatest fountain at Rome is that of the Aqua Paolina, erected on the Janiculum by Paul V. in 1612. The water which it conveys had been originally conducted to Rome by Trajan, from its sources at Bracciano, twenty-five miles distant, but the imperial aqueduct, having, like all the other ancient ones, fallen into decay, the merit of the Pope is liable to no abatement on the score of posteriority. So vast is the quantity of water received and distri- buted by this fountain, that, in descending to the level of Rome, after supplying its first immense demands, the mere waste is em- ployed in turning several wheels of large diameter at the Mole de Grano. One of the noblest views that Rome or Europe can present is obtained from this spot. f There was originally, but one fountain in front of St. Peter’s, C
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