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The Hundred Best English Poems By: Adam L. (Adam Luke) [Editor] Gowans |
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Selected by ADAM L. GOWANS, M.A. [Illustration: Alfred, Lord Tennyson.]
[Illustration]
New York
Thomas Y. Crowell & Company
Publishers
Copyright, 1904,
By Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. THIS
LITTLE COLLECTION
IS DEDICATED TO
JAMES FITZMAURICE KELLY, ESQ.
BY THE SELECTOR
AS A SLIGHT MARK OF A
DEEP ADMIRATION
PREFATORY NOTE.
Let me frankly admit, to begin with, that the attractiveness and
probable selling qualities of the title of this little book, "The
Hundred Best English Poems," proved, when it had been once thought of,
too powerful arguments for it to be abandoned. I am fully conscious of
the presumption such a title implies in an unknown selector, but at
the same time I submit that only a plebiscite of duly qualified lovers
of poetry could make a selection that could claim to deserve this
title beyond all question, and such a plebiscite is of course
impossible. I can claim no more than that my attempt to realize this
title is an honest one, and I can assert, without fear of
contradiction, that every one of the poems I have included is a "gem
of purest ray serene"; that none can be too often read or too often
repeated to one's self; that every one of them should be known by
heart by every lover of good literature, so that each may become, as
it were, a part of his inner being. I have not inserted any poems by living authors. I have taken the greatest care with the texts of the poems. The
editions followed have been mentioned in every case. I have
scrupulously retained the punctuation of these original editions, and
only modernized the spelling of the old copies; while I have not
ventured to omit any part of any poem. I have not supplied titles of
my own, but have adopted those I found already employed in the
editions used as models, or, in some of the cases in which I found
none, have merely added a descriptive one, such as "Song from 'Don
Juan.'" In conclusion, my very warmest thanks are due to Messrs. Macmillan &
Co., Ltd., for permission to include Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar"; to
Mr. D. Nutt for permission to insert W. E. Henley's "To R. T. H. B."
and "Margaritæ Sorori"; to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. for a like
privilege in regard to Browning's "Epilogue," and to Mr. Lloyd
Osbourne and Messrs. Chatto & Windus for permission to reproduce
Stevenson's "Requiem." Without these poems the volume would have had a
much smaller claim to its title than it does possess, slight as that
may be. My thanks are also due to the following gentlemen who have
kindly allowed me to reproduce copyright texts of non copyright poems
from editions published by them: Messrs. Bickers & Son (Ben Jonson),
Messrs. Chapman & Hall, Ltd. (Landor), Messrs. Chatto & Windus
(Herrick), Mr. Buxton Forman (Keats and Shelley), Mr. Henry Frowde
(Wordsworth), Mr. Alex. Gardner and the Rev. George Henderson, B.D.
(Lady Nairne), Messrs. T. C. & E. C. Jack (Burns), Messrs. Macmillan &
Co., Ltd. (Clough and Tennyson), Mr. John Murray (Byron), Messrs.
Smith, Elder & Co. (Browning), Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co., Ltd.
(Coleridge and Hood). A. L. G.
CONTENTS.
PAGE ANONYMOUS.
1. Madrigal 1 ARNOLD (1822 1888).
2. The Forsaken Merman 2 BARBAULD (1743 1825).
3. Life 10 BROWNING (1812 1889).
4. Song from "Pippa Passes" 12
5. Song from "Pippa Passes" 12
6. The Lost Mistress 13
7. Home Thoughts, from the Sea 14
8. Epilogue 15 BURNS (1759 1796).
9. The Silver Tassie 17
10. Of a' the Airts 18
11. John Anderson my Jo 19
12. Ae Fond Kiss 20
13... Continue reading book >>
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Poetry |
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