ns
of the slighter and more delicate products of his poesy. It is true
that, in passing through the deteriorating process of translation into
another language, the lighter works suffer most, and are more likely to
lose that exquisite delicacy of expression, and that transparent
colouring of thought, which is the more peculiar merit of the song or
the fugitive poem--these tender blossoms run much more risk of losing,
in short, their finer and more evanescent aroma, than the more gorgeous
flowers of the tropical regions of poetical imagining; but at the same
time it must be remarked, that the danger in such experiments is not on
the side of the _author_, but wholly on that of the _translator_. That
we have determined--rashly, perhaps--to encounter this danger, must be
our apology for having introduced into our collection many of the
shorter and slighter pieces which will be found in these pages, and,
among them, the specimen which we are now about to present.

"ALAS FOR HER! WHY IS SHE SHINING?"

Alas for her! why is she shining
In soft and momentary bloom?
Yet all the while in secret pining
'Mid youth's gay pride and first perfume ...
She fades! To her it is not given
Long o'er life's paths in joy to roam,
Or long to make an earthly heaven
In the calm precincts of her home;
Our daily converse to enlighten
With playful sense, with charming wile,
The sufferer's woe-worn brow to brighten
With the reflection of her smile.
Now that black thoughts around me darken,
I veil my grief with steady will,
To her sweet voice I haste to hearken,--
To hearken: and to gaze my fill.
I gaze, I hearken yet, and never
Shall voice or form from me depart;
Nought but our parting hour can ever
Wake fear or anguish in my heart.

* * * * *

In the following spirited little piece Pushkin has commemorated an
incident which occurred in the reign of Peter the Great, and which is
probably sufficiently familiar to the readers of Russian history, to
render unnecessary a more than passing allusion to the circumstance.
Among the thousand traits of grandeur recorded of the Hero-Tsar, there
are few more affecting and sublime than that commemorated in the
anecdote of his indulgence to Menstchikoff, who had betrayed his
master's confidence, and committed various acts of peculation and
oppression. Peter pardoned his unfaithful but repentant minister, and
celebrated this act of