CHAPITRE I.
The chapter opens with the travel party having completed their crossing of the dangerous mountains. Madame Montoni is exceedingly relieved to be on level ground again: she gives a lengthy account of the terrors she endured during the mountain passage, declares no worldly incentive would tempt her to cross such horrid mountains again, then retires to rest complaining of fatigue. Emily withdraws to her own room, where she speaks with her aunt’s servant Annette.
Madame Montoni’s Relief and Rest
After surviving the perilous mountain crossing, Madame Montoni is overjoyed to reach level ground. She recounts in detail the various terrors she suffered during the journey, noting she is speaking to those who shared the same dangers, before stating that all the world could not tempt her to cross the mountains again. Complaining of exhaustion, she soon retires to rest.
Emily Discovers the Musician’s Identity
While in her room after Madame Montoni retires, Emily learns from Annette that Cavigni’s earlier guess about the talented violinist they heard was correct: the musician is the son of a peasant who lives in the neighbouring valley.
Annette Mentions the Venetian Carnival
Annette adds that the young musician is traveling to Venice for the upcoming Carnival, as he is said to have great skill with the violin and will earn a large sum of money there. Annette also shares that she would prefer living in the pleasant surrounding woods and hills to a city, and notes that Venice is built in the middle of the sea, so they will see no woods, hills, or fields when they arrive.
Emily Laments the Musician’s Choice
Emily agrees with Annette that the young Piedmontese musician is making a poor choice by leaving his rural home for Venice, and she silently laments that he will be drawn away from the innocence and beauty of the mountain landscapes to the corrupt atmosphere of the decadent city.
Emily’s Solitary Reflections
Alone and unable to sleep, Emily’s thoughts turn to her own native home, Valancourt, and the circumstances of her departure. She imagines scenes of simple, happy social life in nature, which she fears she has bid farewell to forever. The thought of the young Piedmontese ignorantly abandoning his happy rural life for a corrupt city returns to her mind, and she is glad to distract herself from her own pressing worries by composing poetry about his situation.
Emily Composes ‘The Piedmontese’
Emily composes the poem The Piedmontese, which mourns the young musician’s decision to leave his beloved mountain home, his cottage, woods, and loved ones to pursue wealth in Venice. The poem follows the swain as he climbs the final Alp, looks back longingly at his home visible below the clouds, and ultimately rejects Venetian gold to return to his simple, happy rural life surrounded by friends, nature, and the familiar pleasures of his valley.
CHAPITRE II.
This is Chapter 15 (titled CHAPTER II), the first of two fragments for the chapter. It opens with an epigraph from A Midsummer Night’s Dream spoken by Titania, then follows the travelling party as they journey from the Alpine foothills through war-torn northern Italy to Venice, detailing the landscapes they encounter, the characters they interact with, and Emily’s emotional responses to her new surroundings and memories of Valancourt.
Titania’s Invitation
The chapter opens with a quotation of Titania’s speech inviting others to join the fairies’ moonlit dance and revels from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, establishing a tone of quiet enchantment that recurs throughout the travellers’ journey to Venice.
Journey to Turin
Early the morning after their prior stop, the travellers set out for Turin. Their route crosses a luxuriant plain stretching from the Alps to the city, lined with olive, mulberry and palm plantations festooned with vines, through which the Po river winds from the mountains to meet the Doria at Turin. As they near the city, the Alps rise in full sublimity on the horizon, with the plains of Lombardy and the Apennines visible to the east.
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