Be swift to strike and strong to save, Steadfast in all! Till all the land Shall hail thee ‘Bravest of the Brave’ Oh Lady of the Lily Hand. It was a fair scene in which it was written--a hill-top under Monte Rosa overlooking the lovely shores of Lugano--and, though he always said that actual surroundings were never proper to be described in the work of the moment but must be digested and crystallized in the hidden corners of remembrance, I think that the spirit of a place did influence him, so that the sun shone on the hillside of the first Act of _The Lonely Queen_ as the lowering brow of the Black Mount, at Rannoch, seemed to overshadow the halls of Camelot; he even said himself that he could see the barge with Elaine’s body float down the Hertfordshire stream where he was wont to fish after his day’s labour. His poetical work was always that which lay nearest his heart, though his friends often deplored that he did not devote himself more to comedy; but strange to say, his humour, which was so inexhaustible in colloquial intercourse, did not strike home so surely in his stage dialogue: he needed the stimulus of conversation. Possibly he felt this, which made him shyer of comedy-writing than he would have been; in _Nerves_ he was witty enough and there is a very deft comedy scene for two old ladies in _Forgiveness_, produced at the “St. James’” Theatre by Sir George Alexander. His first attempts at dramatic work, made on the tiny stage of German Reed’s, were entirely in quaint comedy. I think a free rendering of a fancy of Hugh Conway’s on the Blue-and-White China Craze was one of the first things he did for the stage and it contained some charming lyrics after the Elizabethan manner which won instant recognition. I quote three of them, for they were never printed for the public. From _The United Pair_. DUET: SONG OF THE TWO CHINA-COLLECTORS. SEXTUS. A love like mine is far above The thing that we are told is love, In Shakespeare or in Chaucer. For while they are content to praise The famous forms of classic days, I revel in the form and glaze, Of one unrivalled saucer. VIRGINIA. Ah sir, I know the thought is vain, Yet if a man were porcelain, Then love would be the master; If only in a single night Your face could change to blue and white, I think at such a glorious sight My heart would beat the faster. VIRGINIA AND SEXTUS. And such a love were far above The thing that we are told is love, In Shakespeare or in Chaucer; For while they are content to praise The famous forms of classic days, We revel in the form and glaze, Of every cup and saucer. SEXTUS. Ah madam, if that dream were true, How easy would it be to woo, And never fear the winning; If woman also could be graced With all the silent charms of paste, Then love could never be misplaced, And hate have no beginning.