Ballads, TRANSLATED, OR IMITATED, FROM THE GERMAN, &c. William and Helen. [1796.'] IMITATED FROM THE "LENORE" OF BÜRGER. THE Author had resolved to omit the following version of a well-known Poem, in any collection which he might make of his poetical trifles. But the publishers having pleaded for its admission, the Author has consented, though not unaware of the disadvantage at which this youthful essay (for it was written in 1795) must appear with those which have been executed by much more able hands, in particular that of Mr. Taylor of Norwich, and that of Mr. Spencer. The following Translation was written long before the Author saw any other, and originated in the following circumstances:-A lady of high rank in the literary world read this romantic tale, as translated by Mr. Taylor, in the house of the celebrated Professor Dugald Stewart of Edinburgh. The Author was not present, nor indeed in Edinburgh at the time; but a gentleman who had the pleasure of hearing the ballad, afterwards told him the story, and repeated the remarkable cho rus "Tramp! tramp! across the land they speede, Splash! splash! across the sea; Hurrah! The dead can ride apace! Dost fear to ride with me ?" In attempting a translation, then intended only to circulate among friends, the present Author did not hesitate to make use of this impressive stanza; for which freedom he has since obtained the forgiveness of the ingenious gentleman to whom it properly belongs. 1 THE CHASE and WILLIAM AND HELEN; Two Ballads, from the German of Gottfried Augustus Bürger. Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, Royal Bank Close, for Manners and Miller, Parliament Square; and sold by T. Cadell, jun., WILLIAM AND HELEN I. FROM heavy dreams fair Helen rose, And eyed the dawning red: "Alas, my love, thou tarriest long! O art thou false or dead?"— II. With gallant Fred'rick's princely power III. With Paynim and with Saracen At length a truce was made, And every knight return'd to dry The tears his love had shed. IV. Our gallant host was homeward bound V. And old and young, and sire and son, To meet them crowd the way, With shouts, and mirth, and melody, The debt of love to pay. VI. Full many a maid her true-love met, and W. Davies, in the Strand, London. 1796. 4to.-See "Essay on Imitations of the Ancient Ballad," ante, p. 566, and Life of Scott, vol. i. chapters 7 and 8. The Wild Huntsman. There oft is heard, at midnight, or at noon, Starts at the noise, and both the herdsman's ears THIS is a translation, or rather an imitation, of the Wilde Jager of the German poet Bürger. The tradition upon which it is founded bears, that formerly a Wildgrave, or keeper of a royal forest, named Faulkenburg, was so much addicted to the pleasures of the chase, and otherwise so extremely profligate and cruel, that he not only followed this unhallowed amusement on the Sabbath, and other days consecrated to religious duty, but accompanied it with the most unheard-of oppression upon the poor peasants, who were under his vassalage. When this second Nimrod died, the people adopted a superstition, founded probably on the many various uncouth sounds heard in the depth of a German forest, during the silence of the night. They A posthumous miracle of Father Lesley, a Scotconceived they still heard the cry of the Wild-|tish capuchin, related to his being buried on a hill grave's hounds; and the well-known cheer of the deceased hunter, the sounds of his horses' feet, and the rustling of the branches before the game, the pack, and the sportsmen, are also distinctly discriminated; but the phantoms are rarely, if ever, visible. Once, as a benighted Chasseur heard this infernal chase pass by him, at the sound of the halloo, with which the Spectre Huntsman cheered his hounds, he could not refrain from crying, "Gluck zu Falkenburgh !" [Good sport to ye, Falkenburgh!] "Dost thou wish me good sport?" answered a hoarse voice; "thou shalt share the game;" and there was thrown at him what seemed to be a huge piece of foul carrion. The daring Chasseur lost two of his best horses soon after, and never perfectly recovered the personal effects of this ghostly greeting. This tale, though told with some variations, is universally believed all over Germany. The French had a similar tradition concerning an aerial hunter, who infested the forest of Fountainbleau. He was sometimes visible; when he appeared as a huntsman, surrounded with dogs, a tall grisly figure. Some account of him may be found in "Sully's Memoirs," who says he was called Le Grand Veneur. At one time he chose to hunt so near the palace, that the attendants, and, if I mistake not, Sully himself, came out into the court, supposing it was the sound of the king returning from the chase. This phantom is elsewhere called Saint Hubert. The superstition seems to have been very general, as appears from the following fine poetical description of this phantom chase, as it was heard in the wilds of Ross-shire. "Ere since of old, the haughty thanes of Ross,- Were wont with clans, and ready vassals throng'd, haunted by these unearthly cries of hounds and huntsmen. After his sainted relics had been deposited there, the noise was never heard more, The reader will find this, and other miracles, recorded in the life of Father Bonaventura, which is written in the choicest Italian. THE WILD HUNTSMAN. [1796.'] THE Wildgrave winds his bugle-horn, And thronging serfs their lord pursue. The eager pack, from couples freed, Dash through the bush, the brier, the brake; While answering hound, and horn, and steed, The mountain echoes startling wake. The beams of God's own hallow'd day Had painted yonder spire with gold, But still the Wildgrave onward rides; Two Stranger Horsemen join the train. Who was each Stranger, left and right, 1 Published (1796) with William and Helen, and entitled "THE CHACE." |