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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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t saw her often . At last I thought she distinguished me . It may have been fancy—but she seemed to me to come rather oftener than necessary , as if on purpose to catch a glimpse of me . With that delicacy and tact which I believe distinguish me , I began the performance on my flute of some of those tender airs which were best calculated to i ntimate in a refined way the passion she had inspired . I played " Away ! away ! to the mountain ' s brow , " " Meet me by moonlight alone / ' "Why did I love ? " and the "Light guitar . " It is a very pleasing instrument , the flute . I have always considered it as refined . A great deal of feeling may be breathed into it , and there is a certain melancholy sentiment in its lower tones which , when combined with skilful execution in the " variations , " render it decidedly a superior instrument . I always think well of a man who plays the flute .
On one occasion , during my performance of the " Light guitar , " the window was thrown open by my unknown fair . I could not help interpreting this : so after bidding her to leave the gay and festive scene , the halls , the halls of dazzling light , and come with me through forests green , I went through my whole book of airs and variations . Having finished my serenade , I brushed my hair , and leaned gracefully out of window , artfully affecting to be consulting the weather . As I withdrew from this inspection I saw her raise her glass to look at me . This seemed to me so significant that I once more resumed my flute , and gave her , " Had I a heart for falsehood framed . "
This musical flirtation continued for some days . I began to write verses to her ; but never could summon courage enough to send them when written . My miserable timidity , or my perhaps over sensitive modesty , restrained me . All my advances , however , seemed to be so readily met on her side that I could not doubt of a favourable reception ; and I at last resolved on a bold stroke—I sent my " Lines to an Ideal" by post , and anonymously . Of course she could never for an instant doubt from whom they came ; while the preservation of the anonymous was a delicate procedure she could not fail to appreciate . I slipped my note into the post with considerable nervousness ; but no sooner was it dropped into the box than I felt a load off my breast ; the denouement was at hand !
Returning home I saw my charmer issue forth leaning on the arm of a gentleman . I thought it could do no harm if I walked carelessly past them . I did so . Judge of my confusion and horror on discovering in the gentle * man the very horseman who had on the Gloucester road reproached me for my cowardice , and in the golden ringletted beauty the very girl whom I had failed to rescue ! I quitted Bath that day . I did not await the effect of my " Lines to an Ideal . " I fled without playing one more air with variations , without even a parting look . I fled ; for I knew that whatever feelings I might have
excited in that maiden ' s bosom they would inevitably be crushed by the information which her stupid friend would assuredly convey to her , namely , that I was the ungallant and cowardly nincompoop who had made no effort to save her endangered life . I knew he would tell her . He looked just the sort of man to do so ! There was nothing generous about him . Men are always so glad to injure a rival ; and he must have seen that she looked at me in a peculiar manner ! " Oh ! that Fortune would once again throw such an opportunity in my way , " I exclaimed . " I feel myself capable of exalted heroism ; but in our prosaic age opportunities are so rare !"
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THE BALLAD OF BEAUTY BOHTRATTTWhat is the name of King Ringang ' s daughter ? Rohtraut , Beauty Rohtraut ! And what does she do the livelong day , Since she dare not knit and spin alway ? 0 hunting and fishing is ever her play ! And , heigh ! that her huntsman I might be ! 1 'd hunt and fish right merrily ! Be silent , heart ! And it chanced that , after this some time , Rohtraut , Beauty Rohtraut ! The boy in . the Castle has gained access , And a horse he has got and a huntsman ' s dress , To hunt and to fish with the merry Princess ; And , O ! that a king ' s son I might be ! Beauty Rohtraut I love so tenderly . Hush . ! hush ! my heart . Beneath an old oak-tree once they sat , Beauty , Beauty Rohtraut ! She laughs : " Why look you so slyly at me ? If you have heart enough , come , kiss me . " Cried the breathless boy , " Kiss thee r " But he thinks , kind fortune has favoured my youth ; And thrice he has kissed Beauty Rohtraut ' s mouth . Down ! down ! mad heart . Then slowly and silently they rode home , — Rohtraut , Beauty Rohtraut ! The boy was lost in his delight : •* And , wert thou Empress this very night , I would not heed or feel the blight ; Ye thousand leaves of the wild wood wist How Beauty Rohtraut ' s mouth I kiss'd . Hush ! hush ! wild heart . " . Geobge Meredith .
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BURLESQUES AND PARODIES . Among the signs of intellectual barrenness and the vicious pandering to lower appetites , consequent upon the trading spirit of literature , we note with regret the growing tendency to desecrate beautiful subjects by using them as materials for burlesque . We have had & ~ Coptic History of England—one of the dreariest and least excusable of jokes , and capable of for ever vulgarizing in the young mind the great deeds and noble life of our forefathers—and we have had burlesques in which the loved fairy tales that have charmed the imaginations of thousands , or subjects of mythology that belong to the religious history of the greatest people on record , are turned into coarse pothouse jests , with slang for wit , but without the playful elegance by which
Planche justifies his sport . It is a sign of intellectual barrenness in the writers ; for what is easier than parody ? what means of raising a laugh so certain and so cheap as to roll a statue from its pedestal and stick some vulgar utensil in its place ? Laughter always follows the incongruous ; and to make a Grecian Deity call for a pot of half-and-half , or to ask a Fairy Princess if her mother lias parted with her mangle , is to secure the laugh , though contempt may follow it . To our minds there is something melancholy in such spectacles . Degrading loffcy images by ignoble associations must operate mateficently on the spectator . And if it be absolutely necessary to appeal to the coarse tastes and vulgar appetites of the crowd , let it be done without at the same time dragging beautiful objects through the
. We can understand the ribald buffoonery of Lucian , who first invented this species of burlesque . His object was to make the gods ridiculous . Whether the spirit which moved him was a mocking , sceptical spirit , like of that of Voltaire , or whether , as we think more probable , he was a bitter satirist made bitter by the earnestness of his conviction , and ridiculing the gods only as a reductio ad absurdum of their pretensions , the fact is indubitable that he ridiculed them in a polemical spirit , and not to excite tEe vulgar laughter of the vulgar crowd . But we , who do not believe in those gods , need no such warfare . To us they are beautiful images associated only with high thoughts , until the burlesque writer , in his beggary of wit and raise h
invention , takes them as the facile material out of which he can a laug . Our complaint is twofoid : first , that these subjects are soiled in our imaginations ; secondly , that there is no compensating pleasure in the burlesque itself . The tendency is earthward , coarse , vulgarizing . It spoils a whole world of fancy , and it keeps down the creation of comic subjects by supplying writers with an easy and certain success . Surely , there is folly and humbug enough living and lying in the open day to supply the satirist with material . Surely , these imitators of Lucian ( unconscious imitators , no doubt , for many of . them never read a line of his dialogues ) , would be better employed in imitating the spirit of his works as well as the mere contrivance for producing the ludicrous , than in devastating Fairy Land for materials . It would be more difficult , no doubt , Imfc is that a sufficient reason for
abstaining ? Music maybe parodied with success , and without evil consequences . That lies in the nature of music , which cannot be degraded . Let a hoarse , beery voice , chaunt slang words to a melody of Mozart , and the next time you hear the melody , it is as fresh and beautiful as if it had never been turned " to such vile purpose" j but it is not so with the beautiful creations of impassioned fancy . Fancy is a Butterfly which must be delicately handled j if rude fingers tamper with it , the flower-dust is rubbed off and the gay insect perishes .
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THE KINGLIEST KINGS . Ho ! ye who in a noble work Win . scorn , as flames draw air , And , in the way where lions lurk , God ' s image bravely bear , * . Tho' trouble-tried and torture-torn , The kingliest Kings are crowned with thorn . Life ' s glqry , like the bow in heaven , Still springeth from the cloud ! And soul ne'er spared the starry seven But Pain ' s fire-chariot rode ; They've battled best who ' ve boldliest borne : The kingliest Kings are crowned with thorn . The Martyr ' s fire-crown on the brow Doth into glory burn ; And tears that from Love ' s torn heart flow To pearls of spirit turn ! And dear heart-hopes in . pangs are born : The kingliest Kings are crowned with thorn ! As Beauty in Death ' s cerement shrouds , And stars bejewel Night , God ' s splendour lives in dim heart-clouds , And Suffering nurseth Might ; The murkiest hour is mother of Morn : The kingliest Kings are crowned with thorn ! Gbrald Masse ? .
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Sept . 14 , 1850 . ] « f > * & £ &frlt % 597
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 14, 1850, page 597, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1853/page/21/
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