"How musically those lines flow! Are they Matthisson's!"
"Yes; and they do indeed flow musically. I wish I had his poems here. I should like to read to you his Elegy on the Ruins of an Ancient Castle. It is an imitation of Gray's Elegy. You have been at Baden-Baden?
"Yes; last summer."
"And have not forgotten--"
"The old castle? Of course not. What a magnificent ruin it is!"
"That is the scene of Matthisson's Poem, andseems to have filled the melancholy bard with more than wonted inspiration."
"I should like very much to see the poem, I remember that old ruin with so much delight."
"I am sorry I have not a translation of it for you. Instead of it I will give you a sweet and mournful poem from Salis. It is called the Song of the Silent Land.
"Into the Silent Land!
Ah! who shall lead us thither!