ther new to poetry, has fomething in it very linking, is prettily
introduced and well turned. This little piece, confidered as the
produdtion o f a girl who could neither write nor read, is a wonderful
performance. It is nature’s poet delivering the didates o f
her heart in the words which love has Tuggefted, and “ fnatching
“ a grace beyond the reach o f art.” This Finnilh Sappho, amidft
all the fnows o f her ungenial climate, difcovers all the warmth
o f the poetefs o f Leibos. I lhall lay before the reader two tranf-
lations o f this fong, the one in profe, the other in verfe.
The following proie tranllation is as near the original as the
Engliih language can approach the Finniih—
m
“ Oh ¡ that my beloved were now here ; Tha t his well-known
“ figure were but before m e ! How ihould I fly into his arms, And
“ kifs him though his face were befmeared with the blood o f a
“ w o lf ! How ihould I prefs his hand, Even though a inake were
H twitted round it 1”
II.
“ Alas ! why have not the winds underftanding ? And why is
the breeze bereft o f ipeech ? The winds might exchange fenti-
“ ments betwixt my beloved and me. T he breezes might every
“ inflant carry my words to him and bring back his to me.”
III.
“ How then would the delicacies o f the rcdor’s table be ne-
, “ gledcd ! How inattentive Ihould I be to the dreis o f his daugh-
“ te r !
M ter ! I ihould leave every thing to attend upon my beloved,
“ who is the dear objeil o f my fummer-thoughts, and winter-
“ cares.”
This verfion in rhyme is neither io clofe as metaphrafe, nor io
diftant as paraphrafe. IP*® “ Oh were my love but here with me !
“ Cou’d I his well-known perfon fee ! .
“ How ihou’d I fly to his embrace,
“ Tho’ blood o f wolves diftain’d his face;
“ Prefs’d to my heart, his hand wou’d take,
“ Tho’ ’twere encircled by a inake.
II,
“ Thofe winds that whifper thro’ the woodj
“ Why is their ipeech not underftood ?
“ They might exchange the lover’s pray’r,
“ And iigh for figh returning bear.
III.
“ Ill-cook’d the reftor’s meals wou’d be,
“ Drefling his daughter wait for me ;
“ Whilft kitchen, toilet, I forfake,
“ And thought of my love only take ;
“ On that alone my care beftow,
“ My fummer’s wiih, my winter’s vow.”
The