_A GRAND old Garden by the sea-- I muse beneath the ilex tree, And musing, see across the bay, The white sails gleaming far away! The flash of foam, the sunshine's glint, The ever-changing tone and tint, Of purple, grey, and malachite, And shadows flitting 'fore the light. While overhead the summer breeze Plays sweet leaf music in the trees! And 'neath the cliff, a muffled roar-- The ceaseless sigh of surf on shore! O lilt of leaves! O song of sea! O mingled thrillful harmony! Now sweet, now sad, it seems to me. This touching, tender, minor key. To such rare music would I sing, The while I in the hammock swing! Ah! could the Rhymer but impart The magic of the Poet's art, In order that this Leaf might be A triumph of bright minstrelsy! O were it not too hot to think, And if I had but pen and ink; Or were it not this afternoon, And if my Banjo were in tune; Or if the weather were not fine, And could I rouse this Muse of mine; Why then.... But there, I can't pretend-- The Minstrel's lazy to_
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."