lian sonnet in the thirteenth
century, and has been published in Franc Trucchi's "Poesie Italiane
Inedite:"--

"Tapina me, che amava uno sparviero;
amaval tanto ch'io me ne moria:
a lo richiamo ben m'era maniero
ed unque troppo pascer no' l dovia.
or e montato e salito si altero,
assai piu altero che far non solia;
ed e assiso dentro a un verziero,
e un'altra donna l'avera in balia.
isparvier mio, ch'io t'avea nodrito;
sonaglio d'oro ti facea portare,
perche nell'uccellar fossi piu ardito.
or sei salito siccome lo mare,
ed hai rotti li getti, e sei fuggito
quando eri fermo nel tuo uccellare."

One of the most original and thoughtful of the "Minnesaenger" is the old
Reinmar. His poems are given now for the first time in a correct and
readable text by Lachmann and Haupt, and many a difficult passage has been
elucidated by their notes. His poems, however, are not easy to read, and
we should have been thankful for some more help than the editors have
given us in their notes. The following is a specimen of Reinmar's poetry:--

"High as the sun stands my heart;
That is because of a lady who can be without change
In her grace, wherever she be.
She makes me free from all sorrow.

"I have nothing to give her, but my own life,
That belongs to her: the beautiful woman gives me always
Joy, and a high mind,
If I think of it, what she does for me.

"Well is it for me that I found her so true!
Wherever she dwell, she alone makes every land dear to me;
If she went across the wild sea,
There I should go; I long so much for her.

"If I had the wisdom of a thousand men, it would be well
That I keep her, whom I should serve:
May she take care right well,
That nothing sad may ever befall me through her.

"I was never quite blessed, but through her:
Whatever I wish to her, may she allow it to me!
It was a blessed thing for me
That she, the Beautiful, received me into her grace."

Carlyle, no doubt, is right when he says that, among all this warbling of
love, there are infinite twitterings which, except their gladness, have
little to charm us. Yet we like to read them as part of the bright history
of those by-gone days. One poet sings:--

"If the whole world was mine,
From the Sea to the Rhine,
I would gladly give it all,
That the Queen of England
Lay in my arms," etc.

Who was the impertinent German that dared to fall in love with a Queen of
England? We do not know. But there can be no doubt that the Queen of
Engla