l.YTTnN. KI.\VAK!> l;n|!i-:i;T I'.T I.WKK. 



471 



so beloved ! Oh, fair aa though that un 

 lia.l 'never M-t 



Which Maid upon her golden hair, in dream I nn-m 



to *' In r \ 1-1 ! 

 roaeehcr in thut old green place the Biune husht, 



.:!!-;, cruel fttOe! 



A little older, love, than you are now; and I was 



then a IMIN ; 

 Ami wild and way ward-hearted, too ; to her my pas- 



sion wn> ii t"\ , 



S.H.II hroUcn! aii, a foolish thing a butterfly with 

 iTumi>lr.l wing I 



A lite'* libation lifted up, from her proud lip she 



dash'd iinta-ti-,1 ; 

 Tlirrr trampled lay love's costly cup, and in the dust 



tlu- wine was w aMcd. 

 hc knew I could not pour such wine again ut any 



other shrine. 



thought 1 held in my hot hand my lift oruaht op i 



1 could have to>t 

 Tin- crumpled riddle from me, and laugh'd loud to 



think what I hail lost 

 A bitter strength was in my mind; like Samson 



when she scorned him blind, 



And costing reckless arms about the props ot life to 



hug them down 

 A madman with his eyes put out ; but all my anger 



was my own. 



the worm upon my walk ; I loft the white 



rose on its stalk. 



One handful of their buoyant chaff exceeds our 



hoards of careful grain: 

 aiise their love breaks through their laugh, while 



ours is fraught with tender pain. 

 The world, that knows itself too sad, is proud to 



keep some faces glad. 



me, Lord, if overmuch I loved that form 



tin m madVt so fair; 

 I know that thou didst make her such ; and fair but 



as the flowers were 

 Thy work : her beauty was but Thine ; the human 



less than the divine. 



Oh, to be where the meanest mind is more than 



Shakespeare ! where one look 

 Shows more than here the wise con find, though toil- 



ing slow from book to book ! 

 Win-re life is knowledge, love is sure, and hope's 



brief promise made secure. 



In 1850 Lytton was promoted to be paid 

 attache at the Hague. Two years afterward he 

 was appointed paid attache at St. Petersburg, 

 and two months later was sent in the same 

 capacity to Constantinople. In 1859 he was 

 transferred to Vienna. While there he was 

 acting consul-general at Belgrade, and was also 

 employed on a special mission to keep peace be- 

 tween the Turks and the Servians, after the 

 Turkish bombardment of the Servian capital. 

 In 1S(51 he published, jinonvmonsly. a poem 

 written in collaboration with Hon. Julian Fane. 

 called " Tannhttiiser, or the Battle of the Bards." 

 The names affixed were " Edward Trevor" and 

 " Neville Temple." 



s H result of his studies during this residence, 

 he al<i> published a little volume of translations, 

 <ir rather psini phrases. from the Servian lan- 

 guage. entitled "Scrbski Pesme." In the " In- 

 troduction " he says : 



In the following poems no attempt has been made 

 ut a -curate verbal translation from the original lan- 



guage. They can not, indeed, be called translations 



in tin- Htrict" WHIM! ot tin- uord. Whut tin y are, let 

 the render decide. What they are im-unt to be in 

 n-'iliin/ tii'-n- than a rude medium through wl,i< h to 

 i--.n\e\ to ntlii-r mind.- wimethini.' of tin- imprewion 

 made ii|H>n my own by tin- jMM-try ot a i-op|e union/ 

 whom literatim- i- \ <{ unl>oni; who in tin- nin< -t<-<-nth 

 century retain, with the tradition.,, many alw> <!' tin- 

 habits and custom* of a burbarou* a/e ; and whoae 

 social lite rcpresento the struggle ot'.-euturieH to main 

 tain, under the code ot Mahomet, the en-cd of Christ. 

 It is, indeed, this strungc intennixture of Mnliometun 

 with Christian association which ^ive.s to tin- jx>ftry 

 of the Serbs iu* most striking characteristic. It is the 

 sword of a Crusader in the scabbard of a Turk. That, 

 however, which mainly distinguishcx this from all 

 other contemporary poetry with which I am ac- 

 quainted is the evidence borne on tin- liu-e ot it of an 

 origin, not. in the heads of the tew, but in the heart* 

 of all. This is a poetry of which the People is the 

 1'oet. 



The opening poem is a long ballad. "The 

 Battle of Kossovo." One of the lyrics denomi- 

 nated by Lord. Lytton " Popular or Domestic " is 

 called " Love and Sleep," and runs : 



1 wnlkt the high and hollow wood, from dawn to 



even-dew. 

 The wild-eyed wood stared on me, and unclaspt, and 



let me through, 

 Where mountain pines, like great black birds, stood 



pen-lit against the blue. 



Not a whisper heaved the woven roof of those warm 



trees : 

 All the little leaves lay flat, unmoved of bird or 



breeze ; 

 Day was losing light all round, by indolent degrees. 



Underneath the brooding branches, all in holy shade, 

 Unseen hands of mountain things a mos#y couch had 



made ; 

 There asleep among pale flowers my beloved wan 



laid. 



Slipping down, a sunbeam bathed her brows with 



bounteous gold, 

 Unmoved upon her maiden breast her heavy hair 



was rolled, 

 Her smile was silent as the smile on corpses three 



hours old. 



"0 God!" I thought, "if this be death, that make* 



not sound or stir ! ' ; 

 My heart stood still with tender awe, I dared not 



waken her, 

 But to the dear God, in the sky, this prayer I did 



prefer : 



u Grant, dear Lord, in the blessed sky, a warm wind 



from the sea. 

 To shake a leaf down on my love, from yonder leafy 



tree; 

 That she may open her sweet eyes, and haply look on 



me." 



The dear God, from the distant sea, a little wind n- 



least, 

 It shook a leaflet from the tree, and laid it on her 



breast. 

 1I> r ~\\> ct eyes op'cd and looked on me. How can I 



tell the 'rest '. 



He remained four years in Vienna, being pro- 

 moted from first paid attachf to second secret ary 

 of legation. During this time he issued a vol- 

 ume <>f poems entitled "The Wanderer," the 

 pieces being grouped under the title of the conn- 

 trv in which they were written: "In Italy." "In 

 France." "In England." "In Holland." The 

 Prologue" is one of his most characteristic 



