The Italian Scene
THESE essays by the Rome correspondent of the Morning Post take us from Vitipeno in the Alps, past the Lago di Garda, where d'Annunzio lives in solitary splendour, alOng the Adriatic by the beach of Rimini, where St. Anthony preached to the fishes and great fashionable hotels now stand " (but (writes Mr. Munro) no resort is allowed a selfish concentra- tion on paying holiday-makers . . . the local Podestt sees to it that, by no means inferior stretches of beach are devoted to the poorer guests . . . children are given their holiday on the basis of aright guaranteed by Government as the custodian of national health) and by the Castle of Gradara where Paolo so fatally kissed Francesca, to Redipuglia, Siena, Florence, the Lake of Nemi, to Rome and its Campagna, and to Sicily."
The illustrations are superb.
Among the most interesting essays are those on the Cult of Nemi, whose woodland lake was the starting point and
end of Sir James Frazer's Golden Bough ; and on a Tuscan
girl " diviner " who discovered some Etruscan tombs (in the author's presence) at Leprignano, thirty miles north of the capital. There is a chapter on the Protestant Cemet ry in
Rome ; and another on the Codice Cnvalleresco liano ; - and- there- ifrvt- mellow -air -of-hospitable sympathk: which to this day governs duelling in Italy (although the _..practicezhas-been..-severely.prohibitod .by the Faseist_gover 1- iment)•;. and a good description of the marvellous marionettes
of Palermo, who keep alive the traditions of Charlemagne and his paladins :
" They epitomize the beginnings of the social history of our con-. tinent . . . and preserve the symbols of the ardent virtues which, championed by knighthood, marked our egress from the Dar:: Ages:). - In " A Merry-go-round," Mr. Munro glances Jingle-like at Turin, Genoa, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Palermo, Florence, Rome,- rendering the quintessential atmosphere of each. Here are some examples of his method : " Bologna all askew. . . . Ultra-mediaeval monuments. Ultra- modern laboratories. Snug restaurants where everything seems made and served with cheese." " An Itilian city representative of all Italian cities, Florence. . . . Everything of race, of strife, peace, art, buildings, and life . . . can be sensed in Florence. . . . In the heart of the city is the Etruscan Apollo. His eyes gaze sar- donically through Greece and Rome. From the Alps to Sicily all once bowed 'down before him. His spirit is 'still • there." " Eternal Rome. Infernal din. At mid-day, time-guns bang and sirens howl on the Seven Hills. Imperial greatness in strident rebirth. . . . Takes a long time to discover Rome. Best done tinder a clear moon. . . . In Trastevere, bright cosiness. Wine- shops and song. The Vatican, asleep but sleepless. No city in Europe so 'soothing by night, none so nerve-tracking by day."
All who have been to these cities will recognize how much
Mr. Munro contrives to say of them in little space.
Less* successful, perhaps (at least by comparison with other accounts—such as Maurice Hewlett's) is the description of the Palio at Siena, that curious mediaeval horse-race for which tourist agents now reserve seats throughout the civilized world. One or two of the other essays—for instance. " An American Survey " and " Search for Ronance" are so trifling, not to say inept, that I cannot understand how a writer of
Mr. Munro's sensitiveness could have permitted them tnappear in such a beautitul volume. Perhaps, however; • these,'.. blemishes do but enhance the complexion of the whole writing, which glows with an inner light. " All books are as nothing,;: compared to the magic; of an Italian August night." That is the last sentence, and it is a fitting conclusion. Yet this book, with its gaiety and brilliance, and occasional lapses of mood, does convey a true and charming Sketch of the Italian
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