in the "Saturday Night." What can surpass the "flood of great remembrance" and memories that crowd around the words,

"We clamb the hill thegither;

And mony a canty day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither."?

The closing lines are also unequalled in their deep pathos and unchanging and eternal love. The "shadow feared by man" has no terrors for this true wife's faith and feeling. She is ready to "totter doon" life's hill, whilst "hand in hand they go," and, beautiful in their lives, they will not in death be divided

And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo."

Now, though all the authors to whom we have hitherto referred-except Legerlotz-have been drawn to try and clothe this sweetest song with German drapery, the magic is not there. We are told that Sir Joshua Reynolds was taken by a friend to see a picture. He was anxious to admire it, and examined it with a keen and careful, but favourable eye. "Capital composition, correct drawing, the colour, tone, chiaroscuro excellent; but, but, it wants-hang it, it wants 'That!"" snapping his fingers. So these translations want "That!" Some, indeed, want

more.

Winterfeld, for instance, so changes the sentiments that the canty dame, who from the original, one feels is "born to be loved" and to cheer her guidman through life and even at its close, is transformed into a grumbling shadow, recalling not the "canty" but the cloudy days of the past. "Wir gingen Beid' bergauf,

Und mancher trübe Tag, John,

Erschwerte unser'n Lauf.

Jetzt stackeln, Hand in Hand, John,
Wir müde neiderwärts,

Und nicken zusammen ein dann."1

Can anything be more unlike the spirit and feeling of the original-pleasant in past memories, and cheery and hopeful for the future?

"We clamb the hill thegither;

And mony a canty day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither:
Now we maun totter down, John,
But hand in hand we'll go ;
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo."

A. Laun's version is rendered very fairly as to the literal meaning, but it is hard and unmusical. Try how the second verse sounds, and it is not the most offending

"Jetzt ist so kahl Dein Haupt, John,
Jetzt sind die Locken weiss,

Doch segne Gott Dich, Greis!
John Anderson, mein Lieb, John,"

then try the music of the original

"But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snow;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo."

K. Bartsch gives a somewhat kindlier rendering,
"Das Haar wie Schnee im Märs,"

1 We both went up the hill,

And many a cloudy day, John,

Made our path more difficult;

Now we stagger, hand in hand, John,
Tired downwards,

And fall asleep together then.

and other lines being again identical with Winterfeld's rendering. And in the second verse it wants the touching pathos of the word "thegither," which Burns uses with such effect in the second and seventh lines of the last

verse

"John Anderson, my jo, John,

We clamb the hill thegither;
And mony a canty day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither:
Now we maun totter down, John,
But hand in hand we'll go;
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo."

The charm is lost by the omission of this touch, in

"John Anderson, mein Herz, John,
Wir klommen Hügel auf,

Und manchen frohen Tag, John,
Bracht uns des Lebens Lauf;
Nun wackeln Hand in Hand, John,

Wir beide niederwärts,

Und schlafen an des Hügels Fuss,

John Anderson, mein Herz."

Otto Baisch spoils a good rendering by a change in the second verse, and the last four lines are poorly done.

"But now your brow is beld"

he omits, and substitutes

Now, Burns makes no such reference, knowing that such men at John's age usually retain one of the characteristics of the Jewish leader, "His eye is not dim." And the last four lines,

1 Thine eye weary and dim.

"Und mag es nun hinabgehn,
Wenn Hand in Hand nur blieb,

Dann schlafen wir vereint am Fuss,

John Anderson, mein Lieb,"1

by such doubtings and vagueness never, never convey even an echo of the original

"Now we maun totter down, John,
But hand in hand we'll go ;

And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo."

Silbergleit also spoils a somewhat pretty rendering by repeated references to John's age. Now it is a loving touch that the references are made in the original simply to the marks of time upon his appearance; such words as “my old John," and "thy old head," spoil the pathetic charm of the original. With this exception it is not without merit, though somewhat cold.

HANS ANDERSEN, MEIN HANS.

L. G. SILBErgleit.

Hans Andersen, mein alter Hans,

Zuerst, als ich dich hatt',

Da war dein Haar noch rabenschwarz

Und deine Stirne glatt.

Die Stirn, die ist gerunzelt jetzt.

Dein Haar ist schneeig ganz.
Gesegnet sei dein alter Kopf,
Hans Andersen, mein Hans.

1 And may it be now to go down,
If hand in hand only remains ;
Then we sleep united at the foot,
John Anderson, my dear.

So gingen wir, mein alter Hans,
Bergan, bergan selbander.

Wir lebten manchen Tag, mein Hans,
Recht fröhlich mit einander.

Bergab nun geht's, mein alter Hans,
Im Abendsonnenglanz.

Zusammen schlafen unten wir,

Hans Andersen, mein Hans.

E. Ruete catches, as is usual with this author, the spirit of the song, but takes greatly away from the beauty of the rendering, indeed, spoils it altogether, by weak and harsh lines.

"Die Stirn so glatt nicht blieb "1

is much too weak for

and

"But now your brow is beld, John,"

"Selbander ruh'n wir drunten "

is too unharmonious for such a melodious song.

F. Freiligrath. This accomplished writer gives an easy, flowing translation, though it is not without some of the defects noticed above. "Trüb dein Aug'" (dim thine eye) is an unwelcome addition, and

"Doch Hand in Hand! komm, gib'

Sie mir in einem Grab ruhn wir, "2

though passable in an ordinary writer, is hardly what one would have expected from Mr. Freiligrath as a rendering of "But hand in hand we'll go

And sleep thegither at the foot."

The complete translation runs as follows:

1 The brow did not remain so smooth.

But hand in hand, come, give

It me! we rest in one grave.