,
So invitingly
Standest by the way!
Broad highway, that leads
Down to Petersburg;
Fellows young as I,
As they drive along,
When they pass thee by,
Always will turn in.

Ah, thou bright sun-light,
Red and bright sun-light,
O'er the mountain high,
O'er the forest oaks;
Warm the youngster's heart,
Warm, O warm me, sun;
And not me alone,
But my maiden, too.

Ah, thou maiden dear,
Fairest, dearest maid,
Thou my dearest child,
Art so kind and good!
Black those brows of thine,
Black thy little eyes,
And thy lovely face
All so round and white;
Without painting, white,
Without painting, red!

To thy girdle rolls
Fair and braided hair;
And thy voice is soft,
Full of gentle talk.

P.

Russian lovers are quite inexhaustible in fondling and caressing
expressions. "My shining moon, my bright sun, my nourisher
(_Kormiletz_), my light, my hope, my white swan," together with all
those epithets common to all languages, as, _dove, soul, heart_, etc.
are current terms In Russia. Especially favourable to this
affectionate manner of address is the abundance of diminutives which
the language possesses. Not only "little soul," "little heart,"
_Dushinka, Serdzinka_, etc. are favourite expressions of Russian
lovers; but we find even _Yagodka_, "little berry," and _Lapushka_,
"little paw," etc. Love is ingenious in inventing new diminutives for
the beloved object.

This exquisite tenderness in the Russian love-songs is united with a
deep, pensive feeling, which indeed pervades the whole Russian popular
poetry. Were we to describe the character of this in one expression,
we should call it _melancholy-musical_. Even the more frivolous and
equivocal songs have a tincture of this pensiveness. While the Servian
songs of this description are the ebullitions of merry and petulant
youth, the Russian are frequently not without a spice of
sentimentality. Girls are often represented painting the unhappy
consequences of their weakness with a very suspicious mixture of
penitence and pleasure; so that the hearer remains undecided, whether
the former or the latter is predominant.

In perfect harmony with this melancholy is the Russian national music.
The expressive sweetness of the Russian melodies has long been the
admiration of those foreign composers, to whom circumstances had made
them known. The history of these melodies is just as uncertain as that
of the verses; th