To Pierre de Chaignon la Rose
Hotel Bristol
Rome. November 3, 1924
Dear la Rose,
Today at last, sitting enjoying the golden warmth and light of a glorious afternoon in the gardens of the Villa Borghese, I have succeeded in making a version of the lines of Catullus which you had copied. I have been carrying them in my pocket for some time and had some scraps of translation ringing in my head, but the thing had never taken shape until this moment. It is a very Italian piece, childish, full of repetitions and sobs; and I have tried to catch something of its passion, while letting other things go. My friend Strong brought me here a week ago in his motor, and on the way we stopped to lunch with the daughter of Bayard Cutting, who is settled in a farm near Monte Pulciano with her young and charming husband Marchese Antonio Origo. Strong has returned to Fiesole, and I am looking forward to six months of peaceful existence and work. Rome is a particularly pleasant place to me: I like the solidity of its stones, the nearness of the green country, the troupes of theological students of all nations, the soldiers and sailors and Facisti, and the combination of modern comfort with a suggestion of grandeur and a great deal of Bohemian freedom and simplicity. Vale.
Yours sincerely,
G Santayana
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Three, 1921-1927. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.
Location of manuscript: The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York NY