14
Translation.
On the field an oak-tree rises;
On the oak-tree sits a cuckoo,
And he mourneth, he complaineth,
That the spring endures not always.
What should gild the wheat in harvest,
If the spring endured for ever?
How should apples in the garden
Ripen, were it always summer?
How should wheat-sheaf be upgather'd
If there were no time but autumn:
Luckless were the maiden's portion,
If forefated to be lonely.
This is the song of a young woman, intended fancifully to convey the assurance that the flight of the seasons would bring a lover to her.
As specimens of this early poetry I give two of the historical ballads, and the whole of the lyrical pieces which have been preserved in this collection. The remarkable affinity both in measure and manner between these and the spanish ballads
