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Preface

THE selections presented in the compilation Round the Year with the Poets" have been gathered from random sources, and are, with few exceptions, nature poems. This, the leading idea, has been departed from in a few instances only, and for the purpose of representing the distinctive literary characteristics of some especial writer, or in commemoration of some certain date.

Many of the selections are "hedgerow" poems, gleaned from the floating literature of the past twenty-five years and preserved in "scrap-books." Wherever the name of the author could be ascertained it has been given, but many of the poems are waifs, homeless and unclaimed. Many others, which represent the rarest thought of the best-known writers of the day, were, for a time, fugitives, which strayed in many directions before they were enclosed between private covers. I have, in such instances, something of the feeling of discovery, in that these poems had become cherished companions and intimates before they had been stamped with the royal

seal of popular reputation. None the less am I debtor to those singers whose clear notes have led me "round the year," and whose snatches of melody I have caught up and sent forth in the hope that they may be to others, as they have been to me, a source of joy and inspiration.

With thanks to such writers as have honored me directly with their poems and encouragement, and with apologies if, unwittingly, any individual rights have been trespassed upon, I present this compilation to the public.

Jacksonville, Illinois

Martha Capps-Oliver