49
THE NETHERLANDS
Water and windmills, greenness, Islets green;—
Willows whose Trunks beside the shadows stood
Of their own higher half, and willowy swamp:—
Farmhouses that at anchor seem'd—in the inland sky
The fog-transfixing Spires—
Water, wide water, greenness and green banks,
And water seen—
June 1828. Now first published from an MS.
50
ELISA[1009:1]
TRANSLATED FROM CLAUDIAN
Dulce dona mihi tu mittis semper Elisa!
Et quicquid mittis Thura putare decet.
The above adapted from an Epigram of Claudian [No. lxxxii, Ad Maximum Qui mel misit], by substituting Thura for Mella: the original Distich being in return for a present of Honey.
Imitation
Sweet Gift! and always doth Elisa send
Sweet Gifts and full of fragrance to her Friend
Enough for Him to know they come from Her:
Whate'er she sends is Frankincense and Myrrh.
ANOTHER ON THE SAME SUBJECT BY S. T. C. HIMSELF
Semper Elisa! mihi tu suaveolentia donas:
Nam quicquid donas, te redolere puto.
Translation
Whate'er thou giv'st, it still is sweet to me,
For still I find it redolent of thee.
1833, 4. Now first published from an MS.