It was a Moorish maiden was sitting by a well, And what the maiden thought of, I cannot, cannot tell, When by there rode a valiant knight for the town of Oviedo, Alfonzo Guzman was the knight, the Count of Desparedo. “O maiden, Moorish maiden, why sitt’st thou by the spring? Say, dost thou seek a lover, or any other thing? Why gazest thou upon me with eyes so large and wide, And wherefore doth the pitcher lie broken by thy side?” “I do not seek a lover, thou Christian knight so gay, Because an article like that hath never come my way; And why I gaze upon you I cannot, cannot tell, Except that in your iron hose you look uncommon well. “My pitcher it is broken, and this the reason is: A shepherd came behind me and tried to steal a kiss; I would not stand his nonsense, so ne’er a word I spoke, But scored him on the costard, and so the jug was broke. “My uncle the Alcayde, he waits for me at home, And will not take his tumbler until Zorayda come. I cannot bring him water, the pitcher is in pieces, And so I’m sure to catch it, ’cos he wollops all his nieces.” “O maiden, Moorish maiden, wilt thou be ruled by me? So wipe thine eyes and rosy lips, and give me kisses three, And I’ll give thee my helmet, thou kind and courteous lady, To carry home the water to thy uncle the Alcayde.” He lighted down from off his steed—he tied him to a tree— He bowed him to the maiden, and took his kisses three: “To wrong thee, sweet Zorayda, I swear would be a sin!” He knelt him at the fountain, and dipped his helmet in. Up rose the Moorish maiden,—behind the knight she steals, And caught Alfonzo Guzman up tightly by the heels, She tipped him in, and held him down, beneath the bubbling water, “Now, take thou that for venturing to kiss Al Hamet’s daughter!” A Christian maid is weeping in the town of Oviedo, She waits the coming of her love, the Count of Desparedo. I pray you all, in charity, that you will never tell How he met the Moorish maiden beside the lonely well. THE “BASIA” OF JOHANNES SECUNDUS. The true name of the Dutch poet Johannes Secundus was Johannes Everard. He was born at the Hague in 1511, and died at Utrecht in 1536. His “Opera Poetica” consist of elegies, odes, epigrams, and other poems, written in purely classical Latin. Of these productions, the “Basia,” or “Kisses” (Utrecht, 1539), have been most admired, and have been ranked with the lyrics of Catullus. They have been repeatedly translated into the principal European languages, the English versions being by Nott and Stanley. We offer selections from the latter, for such of our readers as are unfamiliar with the rapturous Dutchman’s florid effusions. The introductory epigram is as follows: