Acqua Giulia-fontænen. Tekstblad
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This is a text page (letterpress, not an etching) from a 1761 publication by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, accompanying his study of the Acqua Giulia fountain in Rome.
Piranesi (1720–1778) was an Italian architect, archaeologist, and printmaker best known for his etchings of Roman monuments and his invented, atmospheric "prison" scenes (the Carceri). His work combined precise archaeological interest with dramatic visual invention, and his prints shaped how later generations imagined ancient Rome.
Unlike the etched plates for which he is famous, this sheet is printed text (bogtryk), part of the explanatory apparatus that accompanied his documentation of Rome's ancient water infrastructure. It is held by the SMK — National Gallery of Denmark.
Background drawn from SMK — National Gallery of Denmark & Wikipedia
Today's poem
The Leaves like Women interchange
The Leaves like Women interchange Exclusive Confidence -- Somewhat of nods and somewhat Portentous inference. The Parties in both cases Enjoining secrecy -- Inviolable compact To notoriety.
Emily Dickinson · Public domain
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Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) published almost nothing during her lifetime and was largely unknown as a poet; only after her death did her work reach print and come to be regarded as canonical. The Poetry Foundation credits her with creating "a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized."
This short poem is characteristic of that elliptical style. In eight lines it develops a single conceit: rustling leaves are compared to women exchanging "Exclusive Confidence" — gossip carried on through nods and hints. The joke turns on the last stanza, where the "secrecy" both parties supposedly guard leads instead to "notoriety," an "Inviolable compact" that broadcasts rather than conceals.
The compressed diction and abstract, almost legalistic vocabulary ("Portentous inference," "compact") are typical of Dickinson. The poem works as a wry observation of how confidences function socially, framed through the imagery of nature.
Background drawn from PoetryDB & Wikipedia