oven has been here thought of as a model, and nothing placed without careful consideration. And it is hoped that the contents of this Anthology will thus be found to present a certain unity, as episodes,' in the noble language of Shelley, “to that great Poem which all poets, like the co-operating thoughts of one great mind, have built up since th beginning of the world.' As he closes his long survey, the Editor trusts he may add without egotism, that he has found the vague general verdict of popular Fame more just than those have thought, who, with too_severe a criticism, would confine judgements on Poetry to 'the selected few of many generations.' Not many appear to have gained reputation without some gift or performance that, in due degree, deserved it: and if no verses by certain writers who show less strength than sweetness, or more thought than mastery in expression, are printed in this volume, it should not be imagined that they have been excluded without much hesitation and regret,-far less that they have been slighted. Throughout this vast and pathetic array of Singers now silent, few have been honoured with the name Poet, and have not possessed a skill in words, a sympathy with beauty, a tenderness of feeling, or seriousness in reflection, which render their works, although never perhaps attaining that loftier and finer excellence here required, better worth reading than much of what fills the scanty hours that most men spare for self-improvement, or for pleasure in any of its more elevated and permanent forms.And if this be true of even mediocre poetry, for how much more are we indebted to the best ! Like the fabled fountain of the Azores, but with a more various power, the magic of this Art can confer on each period of life its appropriate blessing : on early years Experience, on maturity Calm, on age, Youthfulness. Poetry gives treasures ‘more golden than gold, leading us in higher and healthier ways than those of the world, and interpreting to us the lessons of Nature. But she speaks best for herself. Her true accents if the plan has been executed with success, may be heard throughout the following pages :—wherever the Poets of England are honoured, wherever the dominant language of the world is spoken, it is hoped that they will find fit audience. NOTE In this reprint one hundred additional poems are given representing the latter half of the nineteenth century. None but Mr. Palgrave could have grouped the newer poems in the most poetically-effective order,' as he conceived it, so they have been added in the chronological order of their authors' birth. A few dates in the original selection have been corrected. With regard to copyright poems, Messrs. William Blackwood & Sons have kindly permitted the inclusion o: George Eliot's O may I join the choir invisible ; Messrs. Chatto & Windus, Arthur O'Shaughnessy's cde; Mr. William Reeves ard Mr. Bertram Dobell, James Thomson's lyric “ As we rush, as we rush in the train' (from ' Sunday at Hampstead'); and Mrs. Henley and Mr. Nuti, W. E. Henley's “Out of the night that covers me. 6 THE GOLDEN TREASURY BOOK FIRST 1 SPRING Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king ; Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo ! The palm and may make country houses gay, Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day, And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo ! The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, T. NASH 2 SUMMONS TO LOVE Make an eternal spring ! - This is that happy morn, W. DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN |
