Books

Enoch Soames

The Courts of Love

The courts of love are fair to see
         Built of shining masonry
Quaintly carved in olden day
         By the fairies’ hands they say.
Underneath the arching trees
         Gentle lovers take their ease
Chanting songs of Ladye Love,
         Whilst the birds which flit above       
                  Make the golden courts to ring
                  With the joyous song they sing.
                  “Love is Lord of everything”.

Maidens in the Month of May
         Watch the Knights who ride that way
Who for noble deeds and name
         Are received with fair acclaim.
At the court they linger long,
         Rest is sweet and Love is strong.
Then at quiet eventide
         Lovers through the gardens glide         
                  Speaking softly, whilst a ring
                  Of twilight fairies strangely sing
                  “Love is Lord of everything”.

¶ c. 1891 Presumed to have been composed by Beardsley himself, these twenty-two lines—somewhat in the manner of the Pre-Raphaelite poet William Allingham’s archly pretty fairy songs—come from a page of illuminated verses embellished with two illustrations and other decorative designs. The original was one of a number of early drawings which Beardsley’s school master, A. W. King attempted to sell for him. This sheet, one of the few actually sold, was purchased by Richard Haworth, a local picture-framer and “art-dealer”, and one of King’s acquaintances.