PREFACE. So many and such excellent collections of favorite poems have already been made that this volume contains but few poems that are not in some other collection. A new collection is, to a certain extent, but a turn of the kaleidoscope, a rearranging of the poems that live, not because they are collected, but which are collected because they live. So far, then, as it concerns the poems of the past, this volume is largely collected from collections. Time tries and sifts, and its verdict is clear and pronounced on the many poems to be found in all anthologies. Concerning the poems of to-day, an attempt has been made to include a few which seem to have a present and deserved popularity. To keep such a volume within the bounds of easy handling and reading is certainly to exclude a great deal of popular verse. The principle of selection cannot be easily defined, but it has been, perhaps, an attempt to include those poems which the majority of intelligent people would care for most, which touch some popular chord, which are most likely to be cut out for the scrapbook. The thanks of the editor are due to The Century |