Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/448

458 And what shall I say about Palermo, the city of Santa Rosalia, in its conco d'oro, or golden shell, as the fertile valley is called in which it stands, like an oriental princess, dazzling and wonderful? It is said that she is a great sinner; that there are few cities in which so many murders annually occur, and no city has a higher social life, or more agreeable, but at the same time frivolous, gossiping, censorious, addicted to gambling and all kinds of selfish enjoyment. That which I know is, that she is unusual and beautiful, that her palaces and churches, with their oriental, Saracenic, Normanic character and ornaments, captivate and delight my eyes, as they rise encircled by the deep-blue sea and by the dark-green woods with their golden fruit; and, that all this shines through the day in the splendor of the sun, and in the evenings in the light of the moon, with a dazzling, enchanting splendor; and, that the air on its shores is so pure, so delicious, that the air of Naples seems, by comparison, to be that of a sewer.

It was in Palermo that the poetical art of Italy first found expression and beautiful form through the earliest poetess of Italy, La Nina Siciliana, who, at the court of Frederic Barbarossa, sung of pure and noble love in the most graceful sonnets, and obtained thereby a love which made her life happy. The celebrated songstress of Sicily was after this known only as La Nina di Dante. It was in Palermo, that