372 Reviews.
is not largely represented in this collection. It seems, however, to be of a somewhat extravagant kind, as, for example, — " Beloved how high thou art placed, And how low am I ! Let a drop of water come down to me, For thou knowest how I thirst ! " (p. 152).
Equally oriental, but less romantic is the thought, — " Thy handkerchief and my handkerchief Are cut from the same stuff. One time comes, and another goes by, And we shall soon come together in one house" (p. 145).
Intrigue, Arabic or Levantine, expresses itself in such verses as
this :—
" If thou wouldst come to me, know Over my door stands a flower-pot. Turn the handle, and come in. Do not ask the neighbours about me" (p. 146).
There is an entire lack in this collection of cradle songs, children's songs, and game songs, — again a town-Arab character- istic. Those definitely sentimental in character, and falling under such grouping as " Hopes, Wishes, Plans, Longings, Partings," are the most numerous, and, next to these, songs of " Derision and Contempt," which go to show that the street-boy is the same in all lands and in all races. Some are quite unquotable, but such specimens as the following explain why it is impossible, as we are told in the preface, to ask a Maltese lady to sing the lays of her own country : —
" How angry I am that I was not in the world When thy mother bare thee ! I would have prayed God to break the mould So that no more so ugly as thou could be again produced" (p. 302).
" What a figure has my beloved. The figure of a standard !
Where shall one look for him, where find him? On the threshold of the Kataldus Church," {i.e. where the lame beggars assemble ! ) (p. 274).
One is struck by the lack of traditions, stories, and allusions, scantily represented by such verses as the following : — " Our Malta was the first created. Our Malta will be the first to go under. Up, Beloved, give me a kiss Before Death destroys all " (p. 60).
