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Poems

Chapter 94: TRANSLATION.
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About This Book

A varied collection of lyrical and occasional poems encompassing light social verse, pastoral descriptions, travel pieces gathered from earlier fugitive publication, and personal elegies. Pieces range from tranquil nature scenes and grotto meditations to expressions of romantic longing and formal dedications; a prominent elegy mourns a beloved brother and traces grief and memory. The preface frames the poems as modest divertissements written across youth and maturity, and some material derives from the author's tours. The tone alternates between playful, reflective, and mournful, favoring accessible meters and conventional poetic imagery rather than experimental forms.

THE WATER-NYMPH OF THE ROCK.

[The French is by Bosquillon, which I translated as under, in a beautiful Swedish island in the Baltic, as I sat by the side of a fine clear stream of rock-water.]

ORIGINAL.

La nymphe qui donne de cette eau
Au plus creux de rocher se cache,
Suivez un example si beau:
Donnez sans vouloir qu’on le sache.

TRANSLATION.

The nymph, to whom this stream you owe,
    Conceals herself in caves of stone:
Like her your benefits bestow;
    Give, without wishing to be known.