Then the maiden pour’d her imprecations: “He who said my origin was lowly, Never let a child of love be born him; He who called me treacherous as a serpent, Round his heart, O! let a serpent wreathe it; Through hot summers in his hair be tangled, Through cold winters in his bosom nestle; He who dar’d to call me dull and dreamy, Nine long years may he be worn by sickness, And no sleep renew his strength to bear it.” THE KNITTER. THE maiden sat upon the hill, Upon the hill and far away, Her fingers wove a silken cord, And thus I heard the maiden say: “O with what joy, what ready will, If some fond youth, some youth adored, Might wear thee, should I weave thee now! The finest gold I’d interblend, The richest pearls as white as snow. But if I knew, my silken friend, That an old man should wear thee, I The coarsest worsted would inweave, Thy finest silk for dog-grass leave, And all thy knots with nettles tie.” ROYAL CONVERSE. THE king from the queen an answer craves; “How shall we now employ our slaves?” The maidens in fine embroidery, The widows shall spin flax-yarn for me, And the men shall dig in the fields for thee. The king from the queen an answer craves; “How shall we, lady, feed our slaves?” The maidens shall have the honey-comb sweet, The widows shall feed on the finest wheat, And the men of maize-meal bread shall eat. The king from the queen an answer craves; “Where for the night shall rest our slaves?” The maidens shall sleep in the chambers high, The widows on mattress’d beds shall lie, And the men on nettles under the sky. ROSA. UNDER roses slept the maiden Rosa, And a rose fell down and waken’d Rosa; To the flower-rose, said the maiden Rosa— “Rose of mine! O fall not on the maiden, I am in no tune of soul to love thee, For a heavy grief o’erwhelms my spirit; Youth would have me,—but old age hath won me. An old bridegroom is a worthless maple; When the wind is up it faints and trembles; When the rain descends, decay decays it: But a young bride, is a roselet budding; When the wind is up, its fair leaves open, When the rain descends, it shines in beauty,— When the sun comes forth, it smiles and glories.” THE MAIDEN AND THE SUN.