sweetmeats! where the stones are of manna, the rafters of sugar-cane, the doors and windows of wafer-cakes! Alas! as I leave thee, lovely Pennino[1], I seem to be going to the gallows[2]; as I tear myself from thee, O Chiazza-Larga, my breath grows short; in parting from thee, O Lanziere, I seem pierced by a Catalan lance; Where shall I find another Puorto, thou port of all the riches of the world? where another Loggia, in which plenty abides and pleasure is lodged? Alas, as I tear myself from thee, my Lavinaro, a stream of lava flows from these eyes! I cannot leave thee, O Mercato, without purchasing a store of grief! Adieu, ye carrots and juicy cabbages[3]! adieu, pancakes and puddings! adieu, ye broccoli and pickled tunnies! adieu, ye salt-fish and salads! adieu, cakes and tartlets! adieu, thou flower of cities, glory of Italy, painted egg[4] of Europe, thou mirror of the world! Farewell, Naples, thou spot where virtue has set her limits and grace her boundary! I depart, and leave for ever the soups and
- ↑ This and the following names are those of squares and streets in Naples. I have omitted a few, in which the play upon the words could not be translated.
- ↑ Ire co lo pennone. The pennone (literally 'standard') came to be applied in Naples only to the flag borne by the hangman, who headed the procession to an execution.
- ↑ The Neapolitans had such a passion for cabbages at the time this was written, that they got the name of 'Mangia foglia.' Hence the lines—
"Pecchè Napole mio, dica chi voglia.
Non si Napole cchiù si non haie foglia." - ↑ See above, note at p. 16.
