I present today my third and last selection from The River Rhymer. Near a river, at hay time in the sunny summer, a young girl captivates the poet, who remains at her feet. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Despot, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Category: Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Drifting Apart, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Another poem from The River Rhymer, about a loved girl seen rowing in a boat. The poet longs to join her in her canoe, but it is too small for two persons. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Drifting Down, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
The poems from Boudoir Ballads that we presented have shown the persistent love of Ashby-Sterry for young girls. But the poet had another passion: rivers, boats and rowing. In 1913 he published The River Rhymer, a collection of verse on this topic.
Some of his poems combine both passions, for instance a few ones in Boudoir Ballads told about a young girl loved on a river. I have thus selected three love poems from The River Rhymer, here is my first one: CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Lucy’s Lips, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Following Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems,” I will now present another poem about someone called Lucy, from Boudoir Ballads by Joseph Ashby-Sterry. The style is light and softly erotic, quite different from Wordsworth’s romantic pathos. As several other poems by Ashby-Sterry, I illustrate it with a painting by Graham Ovenden, also of a girl called Lucy. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Little Rebel, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
In 1886 Ashby-Sterry published a second collection of verses, The Lazy Minstrel. It included in a slightly modified form several poems from Boudoir Ballads. I have chosen in it an original poem about an unruly little girl who truly behaves like a savage tomboy, now “good as gold,” then “pert and bold,” “naughty but best of girls,” he loves her as she is. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
A Little Love-Letter, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
As I have explained before, Ashby-Sterry loved girls of various ages, but his preference went to 16-year-old ones, while he often called younger ones ‘pet.’
I present here one of the most beautiful poems from Boudoir Ballads. He calls the girl ‘pet’ twice, so she must be very young. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Adieu to Mabel, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
The poet gives his farewell to a lively girl aged ten. Why does she need to grow, why can’t she remain a child? He will never forget her as she looks now. But she will grow into a lovely teenager. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Pet’s Punishment, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Although Ashby-Sterry loved girls of various ages, he clearly stated his preference for 16-year-old ones, while he often called younger ones ‘pet.’ This shows that he did not love them in the same manner as older ones, and in some way he considered them as inferior beings. Sometimes, he presented them as little animals. For instance one poem in the collection Boudoir Ballads is titled “Little Chinchilla” (with subtitle “A Symphony in Fur”), and on first reading one wonders whether it is about a girl or a little furry animal; now, a poem in his other collection The Lazy Minstrel, titled “January,” confirms that he writes about a girl: one reads “A merry maiden” and “To Miss Chinchilla you confide, / How proud you are to be her guide.” Another poem in the latter collection, “The Kitten,” explicitly compares a 10-year-old girl to a kitten. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Nina’s Necklace, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
The poet offers his beloved a necklace with sixteen white pearls, one for each of her years. Indeed, this age is the one Ashby-Sterry prefers in girls. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Couleur de Rose, by Joseph Ashby-Sterry
I present today a beautiful love poem devoted to a girl, published in Boudoir Ballads (1876). For six months, from January to June, the poet lived a passionate love affair with a young girl. But love, like a rose, finally wilts, and only remains its soft fragrance. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…