noon
Glyndon seized his hat and sword , and was gone . She was seated outside her door , the young actress . The sea , which in that heavenly bay literally seems to sleep in the arms of the shore , bounded the view in front ; while to the right , not far off , rose the dark and tangled crags to which the traveller of to-day is daily brought to gaze on the tomb of Virgil , or compare with the Cavern of Pausilippo the archway of Highgate Hill . There were a few fishermen loitering by the cliffs , on which their nets were hung up to dry ; and , at a distance , the sound of some rustic pipe -LRB- more common at that day than in this -RRB- , mingled now and then with the bells of the lazy mules , broke the voluptuous silence , -- the silence of declining noon on the shores of Naples . Never till you have enjoyed it , never till you have felt its enervating but delicious charm , believe that you can comprehend all the meaning of the dolce far niente ; and when that luxury has been known , when you have breathed the atmosphere of fairy land , then you will no longer wonder why the heart ripens with so sudden and wild a power beneath the rosy skies and amidst the glorious foliage of the South . The young actress was seated by the door of her house ; overhead a rude canvas awning sheltered her from the sun ; on her lap lay the manuscript of a new part in which she was shortly to appear . By her side was the guitar on which she had been practising the airs that were to ravish the ears of the cognoscenti .