Ah, but away from the stir, shouting, and gossip of war,

Where, upon Apennine slope, with the chestnut the oak-trees immingle,

Where, amid odorous copse bridle-paths wander and wind,

Where, under mulberry-branches, the diligent rivulet sparkles,

Or amid cotton and maize peasants their water-works ply,

Where, over fig-tree and orange in tier upon tier still repeated,

Garden on garden upreared, balconies step to the sky,—

Ah, that I were far away from the crowd and the streets of the city,

Under the vine-trellis laid, O my beloved, with thee!

i. Mary Trevellyn to Miss Roper,—on the way to Florence.