The liquid Italian language makes it all sound so totally innocent.
What’s to be done with word parts that act as if they can’t help it
When they rhyme? “Recenti eventi sismici” come across less forcefully
Than “the recent earthquake.” And the same applies to “chiusa a causa.”
The long-awaited Basilica di S. Salvatore is well worth the walk,
If we could ever manage to get into the place, a full two years now
After the “recent” earthquake. With more time to study at least,
We are finding its story of composite construction all over town:
A characteristic element is the massive employment, in the construction, of quality materials coming from classical buildings, partly simply reused (columns, bases, capitals, inside lintels) and partly radically reprocessed (decorative elements of the facade, cornice of the presbytery) but perfectly integrated in a skilled and cultured new composition.