ng
iambics, which give a peculiar grace to its poetry.

It is rather singular that the Swedish prose, in point of finish and
elegance, is far behind the Swedish poetry. One cause of this may be,
that it is scarcely more than fifty years since the prose writers of the
country began to use their native language. The works of Linnaeus,
Swedenborg, and other authors of the past century must now be translated
into Swedish. Besides, there are two prose dialects--a conversational
and a declamatory, the latter being much more artificial and involved
than the former. All public addresses, as well as prose documents of a
weighty or serious character, must be spoken or written in this pompous
and antiquated style, owing to which, naturally, the country is almost
destitute of orators. But the poets,--especially men of the sparkling
fancy of Bellman, or the rich lyrical inspiration of Tegner, are not to
be fettered by such conventionalities; and they have given the verse of
Sweden an ease, and grace, and elegance, which one vainly seeks in its
prose. In Stockholm, the French taste, so visible in the manners of the
people, has also affected the language, and a number of French words and
forms of expression, which have filtered through society, from the
higher to the lower classes, are now in general use. The spelling,
however, is made to conform to Swedish pronunciation, and one is amused
at finding on placards such words as "_trottoar_," "_salong_," and
"_paviljong_."

No country is richer in song-literature than Sweden. The popular songs
and ballads of the different provinces, wedded to airs as original and
characteristic as the words, number many hundreds. There are few Swedes
who cannot sing, and I doubt whether any country in Europe would be able
to furnish so many fine voices. Yet the taste for what is foreign and
unaccustomed rules, and the minstrels of the cafes and the Djurgard are
almost without exception German. Latterly, two or three bands of native
singers have been formed, who give concerts devoted entirely to the
country melodies of Sweden; and I believe they have been tolerably
successful.

In these studies, relieved occasionally by rambles over the hills,
whenever there was an hour's sunshine, and by occasional evenings with
Swedish, English, and American friends, we passed the months of March
and April, waiting for the tardy spring. Of the shifting and picturesque
views which Stockholm presents to the stranger's