Venice, Behind the Curtains
The ghost and the glory
by Neha Fatima
Abstract:
Venice a famous city, romanticized, enjoyed and celebrated for ‘love in the air’ most visited by couples as a romantic getaway to sail in famous traditional Venetian gondolas. This article explores the romanticism of this city through a different lens
i.e. tragedy. What adds beauty to this city’s climax is “tragedy” just like Shakespeare’s famous plays; romantic, beautiful yet tragic. Same is the story of Venice through the eyes of a traveler who has concluded this city in a series of Photomontages and
Cartography with the help of historic text by scripts and poems.
[1] Poem, To Venice, by Aleksanderi. Tr Henry Stanley. Stanley(1877), pp.192-193
“O most magnificient Venice!
Whosoever has been able to taste
The sweetness of love
Amid thy life of poesy
For eternity” [1]
[Image 1] Photomontage, Saint Marco’s square, Image produced by author (2018)
“Slave, do thine office !
Strike as I struck the foe ! Strike as I would
Have struck those tyrants ! Strike deep as my curse !
Strike --- and but once !
[The DOGE throws himself upon his knees, and as the Executioner
raises his sword the scene closes]” [2]
[2] Playwrite by Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice Byron(1821), pp.149
[Image 2] Cartography, Ducal Palace, Image produced by author (2018)
“As he glances at his lover for the last
time standing on the bridge with tears
in the eyes surrounded by the colors
of the city”
[Image 3] View of city of Venice from Bridge of Sighs, Image by author(2018)
“He looks at the infinite blue line that
touches Venice and closes his eyes
accepting the eternal life of his and his
beloved city”
[Image 4] View of Adraitic Sea from Bridge of Sighs, Image by author (2018)
“I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;
A palace and a prison on each hand:” [3]
[3] Poem, Child Harold‘s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron Byron, (1900), pp.196
[Image 5] Birds eye view of Bridge of Sighs, Image by author (2022)
References
Byron, George Gordon, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice (London: John Murray, Albemarle-Street, 1821).
Byron, George Gordon, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. (Chicago: W.B.Conkey Company publishers, 1900).
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (ed.), Poems of Places: Italy, Vol.3 (Boston: James R.Osgood and Company, 1877).
Online References
Byron’s muse, ‘Tag Archives: Bridge of Sighs’, Byron’s Muse. https://byronsmuse.wordpress.com/
Published in Issue 2022
Ghost Dimensions
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