THE LURE OF THE GARDEN 
ing things hand in hand with the new birth of lyric song. 
The Minnesinger, wandering over Germany, sang not 
only of his lady, but, looking about him and discovering 
the lily and the rose, the freshness of spring and the 
bird in the tree, he found nature to be beautiful and 
celebrated it in as lovely strophes as have ever been 
sung. It was long before the time of formal gardens; 
but the happy knights and their ladies went out into the 
green meadows and flowering woods, holding court: 
Where played a flowing fountain 
With fresh clear life inherent 
And as the sun transparent . . . 
Their ample court and their wide hall 
Were the linden green and tall, 
The sunshine and the shadow, 
The spring and the meadow, 
Grass, flowers, leaves, and blossom. . . . 
These lines by Gottfried von Strassburgh date back to 
the first few years of this great century. It was a time 
that saw the beginning of much we now term modern; 
and the perception of the social value of nature assisted 
by art was one of its most charming discoveries. 
In the England of the sixteenth century the gardens 
as well as the society were less formal, simpler, rougher 
than the Italian, depending more on nature than on art 
for their appeal. We have a fine picture of an English 
festival occurring in the gardens and park of Kenilworth 
during a visit of Queen Elizabeth to Lord Leicester. 
As the maiden queen and her escort entered the con- 
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