EST H0NJAN POETRY. £3 



inheritance to the latefx porrerity, a gaudy filken rib- 

 band is wealth : in like manner, though to fuch as are 

 aecuftomed to gems and jewels and all the tinfel of the 

 earth, thefe ardefVlays may appear contemptible ; yet, 

 to thofe who can enter into the feelings and views 

 of a particular perfon, or of a particular nation, they 

 may be welcome, if not actually pi earing. 



I was prefent at one of their marriage ceremonies. 

 But many of the particulars are entirely gone out of 

 my mind ; and fcraps and fragments are hardly worth 

 relating. Prefents were diftributed among the guefts, 

 who in return gave lorne fmall piece of money. On 

 the entrance of the bridegroom, a fong was ftruck up, 

 which, with an Englifh tranfiation, I fubjoin in the 

 efthonian tongue, to enable the reader to judge for him- 

 felf of the found of the language ; particularly as an 

 Englifhman will pronounce it better than his neigh- 

 bours the Germans, who always give it too hard an 

 accent, though with as much foftnefs as his organs 

 will allow. The Efthonians, both men and women, 

 have an extremely foft, delicate, and tender articulation, 

 which is unattainable by the untraceable mouth of a 

 German. 



We perceive in thefe ballads a refreln, or, as we 

 call it, a burden. As this cuftom prevailed in Greece, 

 Italy, France, among the Orientals, and even in Bri- 

 tain, as well as with thefe more northern nations, it is 

 highly prefumable that it mull be naturally congenial 

 to the unperverted feelings of the human fpecies. 

 Who is not moved by the " Cras amet, qui nunquam 

 amavit," of Catullus, and the, " Begin, Sicilian Mufe, 

 begin a plaintive ilrain," of Mofchus ? 



c 4 If 



