The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-10
DECLINE or rRE SERENADE.

MIR. SklHIkentFSss Moved Go RpeeCh by a
PSctnrO He FHndn IN q story Book.
H -ad IL ever occurred TO SOu. Minerva"
said Mr.. Skillklneross. AOrosA the hbrAry
table. that We. don't rave any more ssro-
nades In these daysP
mol Well, a. q matter Of fact leHs nnlx
Just occurred TO me. Here aa~thip A1&G
I'm reading, The Count Won ZilbitrohE
Revenge there's a picture OF q d.
s~erennding his lady love. who lives ina
Romantic Old castle, nnoonSyhe n1o6;
and tho lover stands o. the RrNunds WaMi
his head thrown back. dreamf(y eV NEANA az
his Light, guitar. a., no: gaSea sDrapthr7
at his lady live, who In leaning from q ,
window easement above and loOkklR
fondly Town upon him.. I suspect THAI ak
this minute he lady's noble father, Eha
Baron Won Cru1stein, ls coming arumt
from the rear OF the castle with tho buDAAS.
and that soon the t~vOubadour will have
to skip 1 mean to ny; but there wera nc
barbed wire fences in those days.. and tho
baron was old and'tho troubadour young.
and he'll get away all right. though he
may bust, L mean Fracture. HIS guitar
climbing over some Stone wall, ana the
bulldog may get his coattails.
$50 Il was i'm the old days n Germany
at the time CO which, this story treats, tho
days Of the Gotterdammerung. h LOrelei.
and the Nib~elungenli9d;' .ays strenuous
but romantic. BIT who wOurd think OF
going ~serenading in the industrial Germany
Of to-day with wsssalit castles takiaG a
back seat, and Krupp's iron wos&s and hat
sort Of thing filing up the country, and
Germany reaching out for and hooking
onto Minerva. a large and lucrative share
OF the WORLDS tradef
mo. sir. In Germany, where once it
nourished so strongly. the serenado has
gone up the fiume, except as IL may still
prevail in some OF the remote back districts:
and now. l know, you are asking me In my
mind, Minerva, how about the serenade
in this fair land Of ours. American
well, now, really, l dor think there
ever was very much doing in the serenaSs
way hero anywhere. We never had any
old castle walls to stand under, nor any
enchanted lakes or rivers; this was :sever
what you might call. strictly speaking. a
True. we did have. in smaller ard
in the country, houses embowered tx .rces
and so on. and In Q localities theVs was
once some serenading. But when John
stood under her window and touched the
strings the cows were likely to moo. and
then Jane was sure TO laugh. and wisaN
could you do with asorenade in such OirCuuA-.
stances as thatl 7
Why, nothing, OF course, and 20 John
would go away; but he'd come eay''sr the
next night and go right In and thra they'd
play duets in the parior, which beat the
~serenading business out OF sight.
But as a matter Of fact there never wa
HUGH otEtuhUlAlk BoIO " III gu0 OOuugEYs
and there was next TO none in the big cities,
where indeed that form OF ~lovernakinR
would now be quite impossible. i-:'
Suppose SOM one OF the admirers OF
the young lady who lives in the apartment
below ours should want to Grenade her
And suppose he should come with his guitar
and stand beneath her window in the street.
How long would 10 be before the police
would bid him move on D.
-Or suppose for his serenading he should
seek the comparative seclusion Of the rear
courtyard. How long would IL be before
the ianitor would rout him out of that, or
before windows went up and people called
down to the serenader. softly. 'Sh-, tho SIS
people sick herei' or before other windows
went up and bottles and other improvised
projectiles came down?
You see, ~serenading is really quite inn
practicable in the city here. and as we have
seen. has all but disappeared in the country.
And so, with no place for IL under modern
conditions. the serenade is out Of date in
the world at large. a thing OF the past.
existing 10Y only as we find IL in pictures
and story books and poemS' or ~ we cdn-
jure IL up in our own fancies. ,-,.. u
And do we miss IL much. the serenade2,
Well, no; for IL was never anything but one OF
the frills OF love. which itself remains the
anne now as ever. in city n country, and in
all hearts. This is a world Of change and Of
new fashions, but love springs ever the
same. the one thing that. among all these
changes. has remained unchanged. as it
always will.
lis il not so. Minerva .'-