Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
Boudoir Ballads . By J . Ashby-Sterry . Chatto and Windus , Piccadilly . "W E have read this work with much pleasure .
It is , in fact , a modern representation of that inimitable AOAV of easy and harmonious versification , Avhich W . M . Praed inaugurated , and in Avhich , we see , after all , he has found none to excel him . We do not profess to . lind in these facile
and ornate poems the highest representation , perhaps , of the " ars Poetica , " but yet they are very pleasant , and very enjoyable , and abounding in happy passages , kindly sympathies , and touching souvenirs .
They are alike gracious and improving , Avhether in the charm of their metre , the truth of their sarcasm , or the reality of their " morale , " and deserve , AA'e venture to think , the perusal of all who have yet a little " sentiment" left in their
composition . We think that perhaps Mr . Sterry will excuse us if we say , that he is ? a little too profuse in his mention of intimate
acquaintance Avith the minutiee and even hidden characteristics of ladies habiliments , of superabundant " trouserettes , " and of indispensable under clothing . But such are slight blemishes after all , ancl , as a volume of pleasant verses , kindly humour , happy
rythm , and genial sympathy , Ave have carefully conned it over Avith much gratification , and Ave doubt not that all who read its laughing stanzas will put it doAvn Avith a smile on the face , ancl a softened memory in the mind I The harmony of the measure
is often most striking , while the truth of the writer ' s " teaching" is very effective . Like his great master , Mr . Sterry seems to have inherited alike a ready pencil , and glittering sentences , polished
illustrations , and a marvellous antithesis , and above all that mixture of the ludicrous , aud the touching , the grave and the gay , the sad and the hilarious , Avhich marks in such Avonderful measure , and Avith such startling contrast ever the inimitable poetry ofPiaed . What pleasant ancl subduing meniones float aioimd the MoAYmg graceful stanzas :
"REGRETS . " 0 for the look of those pure grey eyes-Seeming to plead and speak—The parted lips and the deep-draAvn sighs , The blush on the kissen cheek !
" 0 for ^ the tangle of soft broAvn hair , Lazily blown by the breeze ! The fleeting hours unshadoAved by care , Shaded by tremulous trees 1 " 0 for the dream of those sunny days , With their bright unbroken spell ,
And the thrilling sAveet untutored praise—From the lips once loved too Avell ! " 0 for the feeling of clays agone , The simple faith and the truth , The spring of time and life ' s rosy daAvn—0 for the love and the youth !"
Who has not often felt the reality so touchingly depicted in the lines which Mow ] "WEARY . " I ' m sick of the world and its trouble , I ' m Aveary of pleasures that cloy , I see through the bright-coloured bubble , And find no enjoyment in joy .
" Is all that Ave earn worth the earning ? Is all that Ave gain worth the prize 1 ' Is all that Ave learn Avorth the learning t Is pleasure but pain in disguise 1 "Is SOITOAV e'er Avorth our dejection ! Is fame but a flatterer's spell 1 ¦
Is love ever AVorth our affection' ! Lejeu vaut-il , elonc , la chandelle I " 0 where are the eyes that enthralled us , And Avhere are the lips that Ave kissed ? Where the siren-like voices that called us , And Avhere all the chances Ave missed 1
" We know not what mortals call pleasure—For clouded are skies that ivere blue ; To dross noAV has melted our treasure , And false are the hearts that Avere true , " The flowers Ave gathered are faded ,
The leaves of our laurels are shed ; Our spirit is broken and jaded , The hopes of our youth are all dead . " We feel life is hopeless and dreary , Now night has o'ershadowed our day ) Bright fruits of this earth only Aveary , They ripen—to fall and decay 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
Boudoir Ballads . By J . Ashby-Sterry . Chatto and Windus , Piccadilly . "W E have read this work with much pleasure .
It is , in fact , a modern representation of that inimitable AOAV of easy and harmonious versification , Avhich W . M . Praed inaugurated , and in Avhich , we see , after all , he has found none to excel him . We do not profess to . lind in these facile
and ornate poems the highest representation , perhaps , of the " ars Poetica , " but yet they are very pleasant , and very enjoyable , and abounding in happy passages , kindly sympathies , and touching souvenirs .
They are alike gracious and improving , Avhether in the charm of their metre , the truth of their sarcasm , or the reality of their " morale , " and deserve , AA'e venture to think , the perusal of all who have yet a little " sentiment" left in their
composition . We think that perhaps Mr . Sterry will excuse us if we say , that he is ? a little too profuse in his mention of intimate
acquaintance Avith the minutiee and even hidden characteristics of ladies habiliments , of superabundant " trouserettes , " and of indispensable under clothing . But such are slight blemishes after all , ancl , as a volume of pleasant verses , kindly humour , happy
rythm , and genial sympathy , Ave have carefully conned it over Avith much gratification , and Ave doubt not that all who read its laughing stanzas will put it doAvn Avith a smile on the face , ancl a softened memory in the mind I The harmony of the measure
is often most striking , while the truth of the writer ' s " teaching" is very effective . Like his great master , Mr . Sterry seems to have inherited alike a ready pencil , and glittering sentences , polished
illustrations , and a marvellous antithesis , and above all that mixture of the ludicrous , aud the touching , the grave and the gay , the sad and the hilarious , Avhich marks in such Avonderful measure , and Avith such startling contrast ever the inimitable poetry ofPiaed . What pleasant ancl subduing meniones float aioimd the MoAYmg graceful stanzas :
"REGRETS . " 0 for the look of those pure grey eyes-Seeming to plead and speak—The parted lips and the deep-draAvn sighs , The blush on the kissen cheek !
" 0 for ^ the tangle of soft broAvn hair , Lazily blown by the breeze ! The fleeting hours unshadoAved by care , Shaded by tremulous trees 1 " 0 for the dream of those sunny days , With their bright unbroken spell ,
And the thrilling sAveet untutored praise—From the lips once loved too Avell ! " 0 for the feeling of clays agone , The simple faith and the truth , The spring of time and life ' s rosy daAvn—0 for the love and the youth !"
Who has not often felt the reality so touchingly depicted in the lines which Mow ] "WEARY . " I ' m sick of the world and its trouble , I ' m Aveary of pleasures that cloy , I see through the bright-coloured bubble , And find no enjoyment in joy .
" Is all that Ave earn worth the earning ? Is all that Ave gain worth the prize 1 ' Is all that Ave learn Avorth the learning t Is pleasure but pain in disguise 1 "Is SOITOAV e'er Avorth our dejection ! Is fame but a flatterer's spell 1 ¦
Is love ever AVorth our affection' ! Lejeu vaut-il , elonc , la chandelle I " 0 where are the eyes that enthralled us , And Avhere are the lips that Ave kissed ? Where the siren-like voices that called us , And Avhere all the chances Ave missed 1
" We know not what mortals call pleasure—For clouded are skies that ivere blue ; To dross noAV has melted our treasure , And false are the hearts that Avere true , " The flowers Ave gathered are faded ,
The leaves of our laurels are shed ; Our spirit is broken and jaded , The hopes of our youth are all dead . " We feel life is hopeless and dreary , Now night has o'ershadowed our day ) Bright fruits of this earth only Aveary , They ripen—to fall and decay 1