Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STRADA SAN GIOVANNI, by CARROLL RYAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STRADA SAN GIOVANNI, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis a quiet little by-way
Last Line: Shines in strada san giovanni.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Dreams; Memory; Nightmares


'Tis a quiet little by-way,
Steep and rugged as Parnassus,
Leading from the noisy highway
Filled with Carbonari asses.
Lofty houses lean above it,
Whispering like neighbors canny;
Still in memory I love it—
Dingy Strada San Giovanni.

Shrined in niches on the corners,
Saints and martyrs smile down grimly
On the unbelieving scorners
Stalking through the twilight dimly,
Going no one knoweth whither,
By the Casa Frangipani
Where the votive flowers wither
In old Strada San Giovanni.

When the summer days were weary
With the breathings of Sirocco,
Blowing with persistence dreary,
Red and sultry from Morocco,
Pleasant was that shady alley,
When there were not passers many,
Like an ancient cliff-walled valley—
Lonely Strada San Giovanni.

With her cushion, making laces,
Deftly working like a fairy,
Fairest of the island graces,
Little Anna Camelleri
Sat upon her doorstep singing,
Giving little heed to any;
To and fro her bobbins flinging
In old Strada San Giovanni.

Gentle, dark-eyed little maiden—
Dream of unforgotten pleasure—
With her tresses, coin o'erladen,
All her dowry and her treasure.
Long ago!—While multiplying
Shadows gather thick and many,
Still a sunbeam, time-defying,
Shines in Strada San Giovanni.





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