After an hour’s march, we came to a small narrow
and enclosed valley, watered by a limpid rivulet. It
is the garden of Solomon, sung in the Song of Songs.
In truth, it is the only spot amidst the rocky summits
which encompass it where any culture could flourish,
and this valley must in all times have been a delightful
garden, tilled with the greatest care, and presenting,
with its lovely and humid verdure, the most striking
contrast to the stony dryness of all around it. It is
perhaps half a league long. We pursued the course
of the meandering stream, shaded by willows, at times
skirting its grassy banks, at others bathing the feet of
our horses in its transparent waters upon the polished
pebbles of its bed, and occasionally crossing from one
bank to the other by a plank of cedar. We at length
reached the foot of the rocks, which form the natural
barrier of the valley. A peasant, offered to serve as
guide in conducting us up the ascent, but insisted upon
the necessity of our dismounting, and giving our horses
to his assistants, who, by taking a long round, would
bring them to us at the top.
Romantic Landscapes (2.2/n)
#Lamartine #RomanticLandscapes
Lamartine 'Travels in the East'