THE LAZY MINSTREL
The Lazy Minstrel
By
J. ASHBY-STERRY
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
26 Paternoster Square
MDCCCLXXXVII
The Author reserves all rights of translation and reproduction.
TO
NINA, MARY, AND FLORENCE,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED.
LAZY LAYS.
HAMBLEDEN LOCK.
SPRING'S DELIGHTS.
6
A MODERN SYREN.
9
REGRETS.
HAMMOCKUITY.
MY COUNTRY COUSIN.
15
A COMMON-SENSE CAROL.
18
SAINT MAY.
20
A CANOE CANZONET.
23
Bolney Backwater, July.
25
A LOVER'S LULLABY.
26
THE TAM O' SHANTER CAP.
28
A STREET SKETCH.
29
A TINY TRIP.
THE BILL OF LADING.
THE PILOT.
THE VOYAGE. 30
THE HAVEN.
31
A STUDY.
MADE IN "BRADSHAW" AT CARNFORTH JUNCTION.
33
DOCTOR BRIGHTON.
"One of the best physicians our city ever knew is kind, cheerful, merry, Doctor Brighton."—The Newcomes.
Scene.—King's Road, Brighton.
The Colonel. Beryl (His Niece).
The Colonel.
34 Beryl.
The Colonel.
Beryl.
The Colonel.
37
LIZZIE.
PAINTED BY LESLIE.
38
A MARLOW MADRIGAL.
41
IN ROTTEN ROW.
43
A PORTRAIT.
45
SYMPHONIES IN FUR.
COMPOSED DURING THE FROST.
LADY SEALSKIN.
MISS OTTER.
PRINCESS ERMINE.
MISS SILVER-GREY RABBIT.
THE HON. MABEL SABLE. 47
MISS BEARSKIN.
48
DRIFTING DOWN.
50
TOUJOURS TENNIS.
BY A WILFUL LAWNTENNISONIENNE.
52
TARPAULINE.
A SKETCH AT RYDE.
54
THE KITTEN.
Tunbridge Wells, August.
56
IN THE TEMPLE.
59
AN UNFINISHED SKETCH.
A SYMPHONY IN WHITE.
62
ON BOARD THE "GLADYS."
65
CIGARETTE RINGS.
67
AT CHARING CROSS.
70
THE MUSIC OF LEAVES.
CASUAL CAROLS.
75
IN A BELLAGIO BALCONY.
78
A RIVERAIN RHYME.
80
THE LITTLE REBEL.
83
CANOEBIAL BLISS.
85
ROSIE.
DRAWN BY LEECH.
86
SKINDLE'S IN OCTOBER.
88
IN MY EASY CHAIR.
90
BLANKTON WEIR.
95
DIFFERENT VIEWS.
A CHRISTMAS DUET.
97
TWO NAUGHTY GIRLS.
A SCULLER'S SKETCH.
99
COULEUR DE ROSE.
A SIX MONTHS' COURTSHIP.
102
IN STRAWBERRY TIME.
104
NUMBER ONE.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG LADY.
"No. 1," in a collection of one thousand five hundred and eighty-three works of art, at the Exhibition of the Royal Academy.
107
AFTER BREAKFAST.
110
IN AN OLD CITY CHURCH.
112
A LITTLE LOVE-LETTER.
114
STRAY SUNBEAMS.
[Sun retires behind clouds, rain patters on the pane, and the Lazy One goes to bed.
116
PEARL.
118
A NUTSHELL NOVEL.
VOL. I.
VOL. II.
VOL. III.
119
THE PINK OF PERFECTION.
121
THE IMPARTIAL.
A BOAT-RACE SKETCH.
122
A TRAVELLER'S TARANTELLA.
Written in "Murray's Handbook," while the band in the Piazza San Marco was playing the Tarantella, from Masaniello.
Caffè Florian, Venezia.
124
IN A MINOR KEY.
126
A SHOWER-SONG.
Hurley Lock, June.
THE SOCIAL ZODIAC.
131
JANUARY.
132
FEBRUARY.
133
MARCH.
134
APRIL.
135
MAY.
136
JUNE.
137
JULY.
138
AUGUST.
139
SEPTEMBER.
140
OCTOBER.
141
NOVEMBER.
142
DECEMBER.
IDLE SONGS.
145
MOTHER O' PEARL.
147
A LAY OF THE "LION."
At the "Red Lion," Henley-on-Thames, Shenstone scratched the following well-known lines upon the window-pane: "Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, Where'er his stages may have been, May sigh to think that he has found His warmest welcome at an inn!"
150
JENNIE.
SKETCHED BY GAINSBOROUGH.
151
A FAVOURITE LOUNGE.
153
SPRING CLEANING.
155
TAKEN IN TOW.
157
THROWN!
160
BAGGAGE ON THE BRAIN.
A LUGGAGERIAL LYRIC.
Sung by a Victim at a Foreign Custom House.
163
HAYTIME.
165
PET'S PUNISHMENT.
167
THE BABY IN THE TRAIN.
170
MISS SAILOR-BOY.
Mapledurham Lock, August.
171
A PRIVATE NOTE.
PICKED UP ON THE TENNIS LAWN.
173
L'INCONNUE.
175
FALLACIES OF THE FOG.
177
THE MERRY YOUNG WATER-GIRL.
A NEW SONG TO AN OLD AIR.
179
A SECULAR SERMON.
181
ON THE FRENCH COAST.
183
AT THE "LORD WARDEN."
Dover, September.
185
BOLNEY FERRY.
188
DOT.
Cowes, August.
190
A RIVERSIDE LUNCHEON.
192
LOVE-LOCKS.
196
A STREATLEY SONATA.
199
THE MIDSHIPMAID.
201
A PANTILE POEM.
204
HENLEY IN JULY.
207
THE MINSTREL'S RETURN.
A MOORE OR LESS MELODY.
A SINGER'S SKETCH-BOOK.
213
DOVER.
214
CHAMOUNI.
215
BAVENO.
216
AT TABLE D'HÔTE.
217
AT ETRETÂT.
218
HOMESICK.
219
SKREELIESPORRAN.
A SONG FOR BAGPIPES.
220
A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
222
SOUND WITHOUT SENSE.
A POEM FOR RECITATION.
(A Certain Person, staying at Sniggerton-on-Sea, was asked by the Vicar to give a recitation at one of the Penny Readings. But when the evening came he found, as usual, he had been too lazy to learn anything. Nothing daunted, he stepped on the platform, with a profound bow and a defiant air, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am about to attempt a recitation of the celebrated poem, so widely known as 'The Capstan Bar.'" Great applause. Awkward people, regardless of grammar, whisper, "Who by?" Officious people, regardless of truth, say, "Byron, Longfellow, Tennyson, Wendell Holmes, Browning, Bret Harte, &c., &c." Mild people say, "O, yes, of course, how stupid; recollect the piece very well now you mention it." Impatient people say, "S-s-s-sh!" and the C. P., fixing a nervous old Lady in the front row with his eye, thus begins)—
("O, Bravo!" shout those who pretended they knew the poem. The Vicar nods his head approvingly. "How sweet!" says a gushing young Lady of uncertain age who contributes to "Poet's Corner" in the "Sniggerton Sentinel." The C. P. thinks he has made an impression, and, putting on an air of intense pain, he proceeds.)
224 (Two old Ladies shed tears, the Poetess tells her friend that she has "quite a lump in her throat" and the Landlord of the "Jocund Jellyfish," thinking the "Bar" is something convivial, vows he will ask the Recitor what he will please to take directly the performance is over. The C. P. changes his tone to one of hearty joviality and proceeds merrily.)
(Hearty applause from the umbrella of the principal tobacconist. The Vicar shakes his head, and fears the poem is getting a little too convivial. The C. P. only wishes he knew how it was going to end. But, putting on the expression of a bland Bishop on a bicycle, in a sweet voice, tinged with sorrow, he continues.)
225
(He gives the last line with such tragic force that he frightens the Old Ladies out of their wits, and makes the Vicar nearly jump out of his chair. The C. P. then delivers the following verse with frenzied energy and marvellous rapidity. He contorts his countenance, he shakes his fist, he stamps, and he shouts.)
(Terrific applause, as every one thinks it is over. Great disappointment of the Audience when the C. P., after bowing low, holds up his hand as a token that he will try their patience a few moments longer. He gives a deep sigh, and in a low plaintive voice recites the remainder.)
(A whirlwind of applause, during which the C. P. retires, jumps into a cab, just catches the mail train, and is in London before the Vicar and the good people of Sniggerton have quite decided who was the Author of the notable Poem they had heard recited.)
THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY.
227
A REALISTIC STUDY.
229
TWO AND TWO.
A SONG OF SCHOOL-GIRLS.
232
A SHORTHAND SONNET.
WRITTEN ON THE FAN OF A FLIRT.
233
IN A GONDOLA.
THE LAST LEAF.
THE END.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE FIRST EDITION.
St. James's Gazette.—"One of the lightest and brightest writers of vers de société."
Saturday Review.—"Mr. J. Ashby-Sterry is a facile and agreeable versifier, with a genuine gift of expression, a light and dexterous touch, and a grace that is really individual."
The World.—"Sweet and musical. His musical melodies are set in an appropriately dainty shrine."
Daily Telegraph.—"'The Lazy Minstrel' commends itself both by outward form and inward merit to the lover of choice and dainty literature."
Daily News.—"Mr. Ashby-Sterry is a merry bard. He very seldom brings 'the eternal note of sadness in.'"
Punch.—"The first edition of his 'Lays' went off with a bang that must have astonished His Laziness."
G. A. S. in the Illustrated London News.—"Emphatically 'nice' in the nicest—the old-fashioned sense of the word.... A delicate little tome.... Graceful and, on occasion, tender."
The Globe.—"The bard not only of the lazy but the leisured.... Mr. Ashby-Sterry is a humourist, too, who sees the ludicrous as well as the pleasant side of life, and describes it with much gusto.... There is as much variety in his rhythms as there is ingenuity in his rhymes."
The Queen.—"One of the most facile writers of light and pleasant rhyme."
Vanity Fair.—"He is the Laureate of the Upper Thames, and no one has so completely seized as he has the sentiment of the lovely river."
Observer.—"There are few cultivated tastes for which 'The Lazy Minstrel' does not provide in his characteristic way."
The Bookbuyer (New York).—"Mr. Sterry has the lightness and sureness of touch, without which this kind of verse is of all verse the flattest, stalest, and most unprofitable. He has a keen eye for those significant details which make up a picture, an easy indolence which excludes all appearance of labour, and the self-possession of a man of the world who amuses himself with the making of verse."
Court Circular.—"He is one of the foremost writers of vers de société of the day, and his productions are distinguished by poetic fancy and neat workmanship."
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.—"One of the most welcome of the lighter singers."
The Theatre.—"There never was such a songster."
Morning Advertiser.—"He is always in tune with his subject, and knows how to rhyme with facility and expression."
Court Journal.—"Whether witty or pathetic, the lays and carols are equally well written and entertaining."
Newcastle Chronicle.—"Few writers can impart so much grace to everything he touches, and none have so light and aerial a muse as Mr. Sterry."
North British Daily Mail.—"For fluency of expression, ready command of the fitting epithet at all times, tender grace and gentle humour, Mr. Ashby-Sterry is indeed a marvel; and the public are under heavy obligations to the man who furnishes such a pleasant feast of mirth-provoking rhymes."
Liverpool Daily Post.—"The humour of them is the airy, well-bred humour of the man of the world."
Sheffield Weekly Telegraph.—"Quaint and droll, perfect in design and diction, light, bright, and musical, these poems are the most cheerful verses we can meet with in latter-day literature."
Liverpool Mercury.—"A delightful little book, delightful to read and not less delightful to look upon."
Brighton Herald.—"Mr. J. Ashby-Sterry is past-master in the art of manufacturing dainty verses, little bubbles of song that, like bubbles of another kind, are delightful because they are so fragile and pretty."
Liverpool Courier.—"It is a pleasure to meet with verses so vivacious; to come in contact with a humorous fancy so fresh and individual."
Publishers' Circular.—"It lightens and brightens one's heart to read Mr. Sterry's charming songs and carols; their good humour and delicious style, so free from anything like care or worldly taint, seems to be infectious."
Yorkshire Post.—"Here and there 'The Lazy Minstrel' becomes sentimental, but there is always a touch of gay insouciance about his sentiment, and a consistent absence of the mawkishness too often found in the drawing-room ballad."
Sheffield Independent.—"Quaint, melodious, finished with marvellous care, and full of unexpected oddities of form and expression."
Liverpool Review.—"He infuses a sunshine and breeziness into his descriptions of scenes and people which make them live before us. His laziness never degenerates into languor, or his sentiment into insipidity."
Wakefield Free Press.—"The Lazy one is master of his art—he chooses all that is fair, serene, and summer-like for his subjects, and treats them with a soft colour and a musical rhythmic flow that leaves nothing to be desired."
New York Times.—"The metre is perfect, the music of the verse well sustained, and there is that fun and merry quip in 'The Lazy Minstrel' which becomes vers de société."
London:
T. FISHER UNWIN, 26, Paternoster Square.
Corrections
The first line indicates the original, the second the correction:
p. 25:
p. 26:
p. 46:
p. 98:
p. 134:
p. 148:
Cover created by Transcriber and placed into the Public Domain.
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