| 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,— | 5 |
| 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. | 10 |
| |
| 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. | 15 |
| "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! | 20 |
| |
| 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, | 25 |
| 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? | 30 |
| 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 | 35 |
| 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,— | 40 |
| 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 | 45 |
| 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 | 50 |
| I 'll patronize no middleman, | |
| But deal direct with Michigan. | |
