Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Hamilton Fish Armstrong, ed. The Book of New York Verse. 1917.

To the Patrons of New Netherland, 1656

Evert Nieuwenhof

(For an engraving by Adrian vander Donck, who died in 1655, leaving to his wife the colony of Colen-Donck, or Yonkers.)

STILL Amstel’s ancient burghers live,

And East and West extend their care;

To all the lands wise laws they give,

And to the beast-like savage there.

New Holland’s gardens still they till

With unforgotten old-time skill.

Why mourn Brazil, full of base Portuguese,

When vander Donck points out such pleasant lands—

Where corn swells golden ears, and from the trees

Hang rosy grapes, ready for eager hands?

Men mourn a loss, and then in vain their voice;

But when their loss brings gain, doubly rejoice.