Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912.

Eugene Field 1850–1895

Eugene Field

223 In Amsterdam

MYNHEER Hans Von Der Bloom has got

A majazin in Kalverstraat,

Where one may buy for sordid gold

Wares quaint and curious, new and old.

Here are antiquities galore,—

The jewels which Dutch monarchs wore,

Swords, teacups, helmets, platters, clocks,

Bright Dresden jars, dull Holland crocks,

And all those joys I might rehearse

That please the eye, but wreck the purse.

I most admired an ancient bed,

With ornate carvings at its head,—

A massive frame of dingy oak,

Whose curious size and mould bespoke

Prodigious age. “How much?” I cried.

“Ein tousand gildens,” Hans replied;

And then the honest Dutchman said

A king once owned that glorious bed,—

King Fritz der Foorst, of blessed fame,

Had owned and slept within the same!

Then long I stood and mutely gazed,

By reminiscent splendors dazed,

And I had bought it right away,

Had I the wherewithal to pay.

But, lacking of the needed pelf,

I thus discoursed within myself:

“O happy Holland! where ’s the bliss

That can approximate to this

Possession of the rare antique

Which maniacs hanker for and seek?

My native land is full of stuff

That ’s good, but is not old enough.

Alas! it has no oaken beds

Wherein have slumbered royal heads,

No relic on whose face we see

The proof of grand antiquity.”

Thus reasoned I a goodly spell

Until, perchance, my vision fell

Upon a trademark at the head

Of Fritz der Foorst’s old oaken bed,—

A rampant wolverine, and round

This strange device these words I found:

“Patent Antique. Birkey & Gay,

Grand Rapids, Michigan, U. S. A.”

At present I ’m not saying much

About the simple, guileless Dutch;

And as it were a loathsome spot

I keep away from Kalverstraat,

Determined when I want a bed

In which hath slept a royal head

I ’ll patronize no middleman,

But deal direct with Michigan.