8212
A57

Copyright 1924
R. G. ADAMS & CO.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The poems of Sir Robert Bridges are reprinted by permission
of the author.

The poems of Austin Dobson are reprinted by permission of
Dodd, Mead & Co., publishers of his Collected Poems.

The poems of Ernest Dowson are reprinted by permission of the
John Lane Co., London.

The poems of Rudyard Kipling are reprinted by permission of
the author and of Doubleday, Page & Co., his American publishers.

The poems of George Meredith are reprinted by permission of
Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers of his Collected Works.

The poems of Arthur Symons are reprinted by permission of the
author.

The poems of W. B. Yeats are reprinted by permission of the
Macmillan Company, his American publishers.

NOTE. The publishers above mentioned are the owners or agents
of copyrights of the works enumerated. Thanks are hereby extended
for permission to reprint.

THE F. J. HEER PRINTING CO.,
Columbus, Ohio

PREFACE

This is the second half of the editors' Romantic and Victorian Poetry. The collection was originally conceived as a whole, but has been divided for the sake of smaller volumes.

Th editors believe that this collection of Victorian Poetry embodies certain advantages in point of view which have come with the passage of a quarter of the present century. For instance, we now see the work of the poets of the 'nineties (and their immediate predecessors) as one of the most interesting and important periods of the literary history of the nineteenth century. This is the first anthology, the editors believe, to give adequate representation to these poets. Selection of the outstanding figures among them is still to a certain extent a personal matter, and the problem is complicated by copyright restrictions, but the editors believe that they have made a notable addition to the material available for courses in nineteenth century poetry. In this volume will be found a goodly number of poems from the work of W. S. Blunt, W. E. Henley, R. L. Stevenson, Ernest Dowson, Austin Dobson, Robert Bridges, Francis Thompson, A. E. Housman, Arthur Symons, Rudyard Kipling, and W. B. Yeats. It is not necessary to emphasize the importance of such names.

The editors have also given an unusually large amount of space to the religious and meditative poetry of the Victorian era, so arresting against the background of new and disquieting discoveries in science. Here will be found the goading doubt of Arnold and Clough, the vehement pessimism of James Thomson, the hedonism of the Rubaiyat, the devotion of Christina Rossetti, the philosophic nature poetry of George Meredith, and the mysticism of Coventry Patmore and Francis Thompson. This material, with the addition of Tennyson and Browning, embodies the poetic expression of a significant cycle of religious and poetic thought.

The Pre-Raphaelites, who constitute another important group, are liberally represented; and the logical continuation of their work can be studied in certain poets of the 'nineties.

The addition of a humorous section is an innovation, but the editors rejoice that the opportunity of making it was left to them. Here is laughter that has already lasted half a century and still shows no sign of age, and nonsense carried to a height which deserves recognition as much as unique achievement in other fields.

And yet, with all this expansion of interest, Tennyson and Browning are represented here more fully than in any similar anthology. An amount of poetry is reprinted from these two poets which would in each instance make a fair-sized volume.

One thing about the principle of selection: This is not a golden treasury. It does not aim to include every good poem of the period. A poet has not been included unless he stands for something distinctive, and unless he can be represented by enough poetry to serve as the basis for lecture or discussion. This is a book for teachers and students. In accordance with this principle, poets are often represented, not only by their finest achievements, but also by work that represents their historical development.

It should also be noted that when a poem is accompanied by only one. date, that date is to be taken as the date of compositic unless of course, there is notice to the contrary.

C. E. A.
M. O. P.