For the 'Segnatura,' which took place on certain days of the
week, he selected on each occasion some new shady retreat 'novos in
convallibus fontes et novas inveniens umbras, quae dubiam facerent
electionem.' At such times the dogs would perhaps start a great stag
from his lair, who, after defending himself a while with hoofs and
antlers, would fly at last up the mountain. In the evening the Pope was
accustomed to sit before the monastery on the spot from which the whole
valley of the Paglia was visible, holding lively conversations with the
cardinals. The courtiers, who ventured down from the heights on their
hunting expeditions, found the heat below intolerable, and the scorched
plains like a very hell, while the monastery, with its cool, shady
woods, seemed like an abode of the blessed.
All this is genuine modern enjoyment, not a reflection of antiquity. As
surely as the ancients themselves felt in the same manner, so surely,
nevertheless, were the scanty expressions of the writers whom Pius knew
insufficient to awaken in him such enthusiasm.
The second great age of Italian poetry, which now followed at the end
of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries, as well
as the Latin poetry of the same period, is rich in proofs of the
powerful effect of nature on the human mind. The first glance at the
lyric poets of that time will suffice to convince us.
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