This quiet Dust was Gentleman and Ladies 1
And Lads and Girls－
Was laughter and ability and Sighing
And Frocks and Curls.
This Passive Place a Summer's nimble mansion 5
Where Bloom and Bees
Exists an Oriental Circuit
Then cease, like these－
And Lads and Girls－
Was laughter and ability and Sighing
And Frocks and Curls.
This Passive Place a Summer's nimble mansion 5
Where Bloom and Bees
Exists an Oriental Circuit
Then cease, like these－
(F.1090/J.813)
[1] Gentlemen, Ladies:: seven ladies and three gentlemen who went to the countryside of Florence to avoid the plague in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). quiet:: away from city. Dust:: disturbance, commotion, of their gathering.
[2] Lads, Girls:: their waiting-women and servants.
[3] ability:: the ability of story-telling.
[5, 6] Passive Place, mansion, Bloom:: they went to a "stately palace" to escape the plague.
[7] Oriental:: toward where the sun rises; with hope, new beginning. Circuit:: a round that each person told a story every day.
[8] Then cease:: they stayed there for ten days.
It was a little eminence, remote from any great road, covered with trees and shrubs of an agreeable verdure; and on the top was a stately palace, with a grand and beautiful court in the middle: within were galleries, and fine apartments elegantly fitted up, and adorned with most curious paintings; around it were fine meadows, and most delightful gardens, with fountains of the purest and best water. ─ The Decameron, Translated by Kelly (1855)
