Even dialogues occur seldom, except in some narrative form;
as for instance:
To her brother thus the lady answered;
or,
And the bonny maiden asked her mother.
A division into epic and lyric ballads would also be difficult. A
considerable portion, especially of the Russian and Servian songs,
begin with a few narrative verses; although the chief part of the song
is purely lyric. These introductory verses are frequently allegorical;
and if we do not always find a connection between them and the tale or
song which follows, it is because one singer borrows these
introductions from another, and adds an extemporaneous effusion of his
own. These little allegories, however, frequently give a complete
picture of the subject. They are, also, not always confined to the
introduction, but spun out through the whole poem. The following
Russian elegy on the death of a murdered youth, may illustrate our
remarks. We translate as literally as possible. The Russian original,
like the translation, has no rhymes,[5]
ELEGY.
O thou field! thou clean and level field!
O thou plain, so far and wide around!
Level field, dressed up with every thing,
Every thing; with sky-blue flowerets small,
Fresh green grass, and bushes thick with leaves;
But defaced by one thing, but by one!
For in thy very middle stands a broom,
On the broom a young gray eagle sits,
And he butchers wild a raven black,
Sucks the raven's heart-blood glowing hot,
Drenches with it, too, the moistened earth.
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