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Was it into this little bay that she came from the sea, borne on that great shell, hurried by fragrant winds, up toward the morning shadow of that mountain? Local tradition says so; one respects it; with the reservation that in half a dozen other Mediterranean sea-towns punctilio would constrain respect for exactly the same tradition. On the flat top of the mountain a temple called Jove’s looks seaward.

Northward, out of sight, at the far end of the great bay of which this little bay is a detail, another mountain, called Circeo, commemorates Circe. There, by local tradition, Ulysses put in. One respects that tradition likewise. The traditions intimidate no one, least of all the Sunday drivers. A massive wasp-like noise fills the timeless air, foursquare persistent noise a blunt knife would cut, scintillant with the shock of abrupt gear-changes. Virtuosi of the gear-box, Leonardo’s countrymen. Floodlights maintain the contour of Jove’s temple against a darkening milky sky. The heart of Terracina, two blocks from the sea, is bathed in mercury vapor light as in blue acid.

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Hugh Kenner

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Was it into this little bay that she came from the sea, borne on that great shell, hurried by fragrant winds, up toward the morning shadow of that mountain? Local tradition says so; one respects it; with the reservation that in half a dozen other Mediterranean sea-towns punctilio would constrain respect for exactly the same tradition. On the flat top of the mountain a temple called Jove’s looks seaward.

Northward, out of sight, at the far end of the great bay of which this little bay is a detail, another mountain, called Circeo, commemorates Circe. There, by local tradition, Ulysses put in. One respects that tradition likewise. The traditions intimidate no one, least of all the Sunday drivers. A massive wasp-like noise fills the timeless air, foursquare persistent noise a blunt knife would cut, scintillant with the shock of abrupt gear-changes. Virtuosi of the gear-box, Leonardo’s countrymen. Floodlights maintain the contour of Jove’s temple against a darkening milky sky. The heart of Terracina, two blocks from the sea, is bathed in mercury vapor light as in blue acid.