The San Francisco call. [volume], January 10, 1909, Page 4, Image 4

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
THE MAIDEN OF TAMALPAIS
Isabel Bellman
IN Rome we had wandered in the Fo
rum, along the sacred way where the
tragedy of Virginia was enacted; in
Florence we had followed in the
footsteps of Romola; ( in Venice, in the"
Rezzonico palace, we had stood reve.r-.
*ntly before the lock of hair immor
talized by Mrs. Browning; we had seen,
the prize forest st Ravenna where
Dante dreamed of Beatrice, and now
we were bound for Verona, "where
Juliet lived." Bo you wonder that we
'\u25a0'r> elated? Do you wonder that we
defied the threatening aspect of a late
October day. whose cloudy skies seemed
-waiting to precipitate a shower just
as soon a* we should reach our desti
nation?
Our mood was so ecstatic that when,
on alighting from the train, we were
surrounded by a dozen persistent ho
tel runners, we gloried in answering
their limping English in equally lame
Italian and in passing them by for the
one cab that would take us to plain
albergo. We even giggled as one of
the men mocked our pronunciation of
"albergo Ristorante alia Scala /del
Mazzantl." for we knew, If he ever
tried to pronounce Ran Francisco after
the English with an "1," he would stum
ble no less, and we could be equally
contemptuous. We cared for naught
save that we were In Verona where
Juliet lived.
When we reached the ."Inn at the
Mazzanti Staircase" it seemed '\u25a0• fitting
that market day should be In progress,
and that, as the dining room was
crowded with animated. Italians' 1 , we
should be served- in a private room. .We
ordered "bifstech." which, .since we
had learned to brave the garlic that
invariably flavored It.' had never failed
to prove delectable.
We then, opened the guide book and
searched Its pages'* for mention of Ju
liet. . It spoke of many more' important
places, all carefully 6tarred for the
jLJong ago in the mythical ages
When the daughters of Eve were fair,
A maiden came down from the valley
To the bay and the misty cool air.
She called to her lover, fruit laden,
She flung wide her tresses so free
And, fleet-footed, ran through the rushes
To the billowy white-capped : sea.
tourist's benefit v The list Included the
flower market, the ; piazza del signorl,
the palazzo del consiglio : (translated,
old town' hall), the tombs, of the Scali
geri,. the arena" and innumerable stat
ues, bridges, churches and castles; and
In fine print,: In a scant line or twoi
\u25a0we found our quarry— -Juliet's tomb.; It
was designated'- as "so-called,',' and
though It might ' not' appeal to the
maker of guide t books, v. in.-' our, imag
ination at least.; it was double starred,
and ignoring all' else "we set forth to
find it " -'\u25a0-' "\u25a0•'. '.'
The tomb « lies in \u25a0 a former monastery
A PIGRIMAGE
TO THE
TOMB
AND
HOUSE
OF
JULIET
In the outskirts \ -of l . cVeroha;";- and \>. ls
reached by way. of the. Via; Pal lone, a
i wide , street ' lined ; on '• one ; 'side \u25a0 ; with'
trees- and, on.- the ~ other' .by;-'av"qualnt.
m ed I e val ; c i ty - wai 1 .' • _We [ we n t \u25a0; leisure
ly, enjoying; the autumn' coloVing. of the.
trees and "the cloud Veffectvin^th^e "sky'
above. ' These, pleasant > features, Jn'-
. creased our shock as",' turning ; f rom ') ih%\
•Via Pallone" 'into ;the:VV"ia ; Cappucclni,
;we ; saw before^us: In huge ; black \u25a0'\u25a0 let
ters <on a 'pinkfwall the.slgn:
_ "Tomba dLGiulietta/' ' ?
, As we turnedt'into : the -street ; small \u25a0
boys ran ;to *•\u25a0; meet " -'us, k repeating - the -
LILLIAN H. SHUEY
[She joyed in the long waves rolling, .
Laughed when they broke into snow,
Till the strong Tide King embraced her,
Kissed her, and bore her low. ,
Then Temblor, the shaper of ridges, -
Lifted^her up from) the deep,'' -\u25a0'-
u>: And laid hereto rest 6n\the mountair
Forever in"* beauty: to '\u25a0\u25a0 sleepX
<vords and entreating "im soldo." th«
universal demand .'of the infant, Ital
ian. "We found; the custodian, a woman
who carried ; one baby .''•while a -second
tugged at her skirts, and went 'with
her . across the open '\u25a0 parade ground, of
the barracks which, occupy/ the. site':of
the former '. Franciscan . monastery.
Nothing surejy: could be less 'romantic
than this : open space its isolated
fringe; of v austere^buildings, ;and -yet
when the- 1 i ttle ' door . in the \ red • brick
wall swung open \we stepped "as; if; by
magicinto another world. We were in
a sequestered, -court, shaded /.by tall
\u25a0 trees and hung with vines 'in full au
tumn i glory- of scarlet arid -yellow. '"Tri
an ; arohed/colonnade. In- the.7 center was
the tomb; : ,se.emingly:']\yith
Kenilworth' ; ivy, : which had scattered
brightness all .'about the .'stone: [fiijor".'
.Sweet 'and lovely spot in/trhtch to take
one's nnaj^resf v ; ;; V•' ; •
•\u25a0 -We, looked upon our} M*»cca-^an • open
stone, sarcophagus, half,'fllled:with: # vis-
i ting \u25a0" cards.' We; added \u25a0 ours '\u25a0 to ' the
pile,', wondering;. 'as we* : did * so ? who -had
Inaugurated, this;, simple; but: charming
custom. :;; ; Literally > there ; we i re L cards
from' every; land i under the -sun, forjthe
devotee • f rom V Patagonia > had v dropped
hls B .! on S ß |de /off one if rom Russia. --"We
; lingered .;} while ii conjured
\u25a0 u P» a <plcture?of rthe.< daughter" of^the
Capulets" and ihen^turned ; to. examine
the surroundings; ' Tacked .on; the', wall
were fother cards,*!; andran: inspection^ of
the - ever..,<pr' e sentS register » showed : : the
worldwide,interest- in s tho:ioyely Juliet:
Onronq ,page 'aloneTAmerlca;* England;
France. "Germany;* -Poland •;' and "'.,: Chile
were . reprcHehted^'" the names
far- outnumbering 'the^English/ V.\-."O
-We were fjloth*: to: leaVVVthe; world
of romance, but -at i last,* 1 coming.; back
to ; the' "matter of \'fact,'; wel paid ) 'the *; fee
<10;cents\each)^and* stepped* f ronv; the
subdued I. atmosphere, \ where; the ;:gla
trio urj of ?a" i past f century : . 1 lrigered/ Into*
the prosaic r present.;-. • . ,
There, wasistlll to a be seen the house
of j Juliet; ; which\ the i: guide mentioned,
though most; meagerly-^arid, r - yes, 5 . 1 the'
house *of I Romeo ?. also; (which ;was ? en
ti rely;; overlooked a by ;: Baedeker. - '[ Al
though : we i had i seen >'all • that Verona^
reaiiy? meant ! to jus .we were : ready for
Its i other "sights/^ ' _ ''\u25a0 '•• • ; "
'^'Wef : went;t through; devious !pictur
esqueiStreetsluntiliweTfound' the .tombs 1
of ;the Scaligerl, whoselelaborate'Goth-'
It •* Style was *^"° re V Qiialnt ;: thanV any
thing el se that .welhad ' 'seen. 'yl Our "ideas '
of; equestrian} statues shad fbeens formed
mainly; In xVenlce/t where iCwe i had % seen'
tne,vVsilded |of i St| Mark's,'^ and
wl >ere £wej had? f oundl the] marM c f horse
( the| only) klnd\that\Ventee) knows) I not
only. in;the [streets jbutynltheTchurcheg^
There. was"certainly A a*contfastlbetweeh : '
the Venetian/s tatues and those - that
\u25a0 adorn »the - tombs j tne , Scallgerl." ' As
>we \ looked f, at , the .'; monument lof • Can
i Grande^ we iwondered . i f . the ' present day
•horse'lwbuldj take? kindly to 'such en-
I shrouding/ Jwhllei. the k. headgear of
?Mastino^nlflllediusswithfawe.;n '-'
In a : narrow.- street, J Just , around '.the
\u25a0\u25a0 corner, from (the'- tombs,* .we ; found -the
cb i "called^ house of Romeb.iwhlchlwould
remained Vunk'nowxi't to^us ,\u25a0 but : for
at* chance j postcard ?*and ~* an ." 'obliging
book seller.v.i its = battlemented roof s e t
;it f, apart^ from | its much § more j modern
; Ja * massive i archway^ led ". to
1 the s courtyard,-? and i the^ho'use % proper
had iia '.i balcony, j.) Juliet's vhouse t had , a
should; not TtheJ house -of Ro
* meo ?#A"V stable 'j> In S the s'courtyard and
\u25a0i a' tobacco: Bhop]in|thelhouse'itaelf ; sugC
sii w wii inn i
H llll 111 I IS I
\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0II hi
[The maiden on Tamalpais lying
Waits for the voice and the hand
Of the Faultless, the Chosen, and Kingly.
She loved in the barley-white land.
By the ?ay of Saint Francis she's sleeping.
In the wind on the edge of sky,
Ayherejhe redwoods stay her mantle.
And the sunset glones lie.
K>?sted the ;,base.^uses to which any
house; may.; come.; ' .
In goingnextitothe Raglone palace'
we" fell » heir to : . a. '• small \u25a0 "adventure.
-While \u25a0; mV the - court of the palace ex
amining.' Its staircase we
were besieged Iby theVever^irrepresf
; slble ' boys. .. 'A^ dozen of / them •; hung
about us begging for.' a penny,"; playing:
tag ; with ; each * other v and f; exchanging
merry . badinage. (Attracted *by the en
gagingJ.brownteyes_and;«unny: hahv of
one; of ' these.'lwe '(asked " him \u25a0to .guide
'us ; to ) "la" casa ; dlt Giulietta.'' • J He ; pre
:tended not, to, understand, then Inquired
with 1, superior » knowledge.' "Oh. la > casa
di 'iCapuletl? l^; ." Our^ 'offers of ;'a penny
being. i satisfactory ? we J-were "soon on
our way to the .yia Cappello (Hat
The San Francisco Sunday Call
• street). twhic"Vt3 one of the na-nes for
the same street, one block being
known as the street of St. Sebastian
and the third as the street of xhe> Lions.
Our little guide led *us solamnly up
to the house in a street so narrow that
we had some difficulty in getting a
• view of the balcony on the fourth
story. The house was of the same ma- —
terlal as the one attributed to Romeo,
and had quite as fine an archway. A
tablet over the arch designated it as
tl.e house of Juliet. We gathered thesa
details \u25a0 with some effort, for besides
„ dodging pedestrians we had to make
way for a. very yellow horse car. which
when It stopped seemed ' to> block th«
entire street. We looked In vain for
th** orchard where,. Romeo stood and
"declared:
"l^idy. by yonder bl»ssed moon I swear
That tips with silver all these fruit
tree tops."
Our guide was impatiently waiting
for us to enter the court, so we passed
under the archway Into a typical Ital
ian scene. In a dozen doorways and
along the walls lounged men and
women, while children tumbled about
In noisy confusion. Untidiness marked
every inch of. the place. The little
Italian. began to tell us the story of
Juliet- He pointed upward to a first
story balcony whose position was more
attainable -than 'the other one. but the
variegated nondescript wash that
draped its railings rather chilled our
preconceived Ideas of Juliet's balcony. r
Then he called attention to the cobble-
: : stone ; pavemen V . ' Most gravely he ex
plained that .there had once been a
garden and here had. blossomed beauti
ful; "floretti." He knew the story bet
ter .than we. "What. Veronese doesn't?
. We had other guides that day, but
• none: that memory, recalls. so willingly
as the golden haired child who could
-imagine- "floretti" from a pavement of
\u25a0cobble stones.. "3 .
In" the next block we found the fruit,
and .flower market, where we" could
, have; bought anything from a flatiron
to a cabbage,' a postcard to a candle
stick. We wandered over th© bridge
. of San Pietro andy watched the Adige
whose dear green waters were a de
. light : after the Arno . and the Tiber
We saw the bridge of Scaligero, which
.Is -battlemented like Romeo's house
Churches, statues, castles, palaces all
had their turn before the day was over
Indeed there, was "little of Verona that
\ we did not see, but it was and still re
mains , for s us the i place "wher» Juliet
lived.", •