PUBLISHER'S NOTE

The ambition of the anthologist, in compiling Great Poems of the English Language, has been to bring together representative selections of the work of every important English poet from the beginnings of poetry in our language down to the present time. In this he has been, for the greater part, successful-although it has been necessary to omit selections from the works of certain modern poets where permissions to reprint could not be obtained.

Naturally, then, the anthology is composed of poems by English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and American writers-men and women; and it has been found desirable to arrange them in chronological order. This brings together the contemporary poets of the several countries and aids the reader in obtaining a comprehensive view of the development of English as a poetic language.

To avoid the controversy likely to arise from conflicting claims of nationality-country of birth versus country of naturalization-Great Poems of the English Language follows the rule of stating the country of birth. In most cases this clearly indicates nationality, and in some may show the influence of environment on the poet's work. Among the younger writers there are, of necessity, quite a few cases where no biographical data are available. However, many of these have produced work. that deserves actually demands-admission to an anthology of this scope. We have included these men and women, feeling that information regarding a poet's nationality or age is of secondary importance.

An interesting feature of the book is the inclusion of numerous selections from longer poems which could not be printed in full in a work of one volume-each excerpt being in itself, and entirely apart from the context, an entity, a complete picture or thought. Thus, we believe, Great Poems of the English Language will fill most satisfactorily the between the ordinary anthology and the complete works of the poets.

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Because of the characteristics just discussed, the index has been made exceptionally full. Not only are given the titles of the complete poems-as, for instance, Shakespeare's plays— but a glance will show whether or not a favorite passage is included: the source or location of each selection is indicated. Also in the case of long poems whose excerpts have individual titles, as in Sir Philip Sidney's "Astrophel and Stella," proper credit is given at the end of each part of the work cited,

For her intelligent appreciation of the problems involved in this arrangement and in the indexing, and for her painstaking accuracy in carrying out the actual work, the publishers are grateful to Miss Julie M. Eidesheim without whose expert services they would have been seriously handicapped.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

JONATHAN CAPE, LTD., for permission to use Samuel Butler's "Not
on Sad Stygian Shore" and William H. Davies' "Happy Wind,"
"Sweet Stay-at-Home," "Leisure," "The Kingfisher," "The Ex-
ample," "Thunderstorms," "A Great Time," "The Moon," "A
Thought," "The Two Children" and "Early Spring";

MRS. KATHERINE M. CARRUTH for permission to use William Car-
ruth's "Each in His Own Tongue";

THE CENTURY COMPANY for permission to use David Morton's
"When There Is Music" and John Henry Boner's "Poe's Cottage
at Fordham" from The Century Magazine; Will Thompson's
"The High Tide at Gettysburg" and S. Weir Mitchell's "Eve-
ning"; and "When the Wind Is Low" by Cale Young Rice, taken
from Selected Plays and Poems;

R. COBDEN-SANDERSON, PUBLISHER, for permission to use J. Middle-
ton Murry's "Serenity" from Poems, 1916-20;

CONTEMPORARY VERSE for permission to use Ralph M. Jones' "Bed-
Time" and George Brandon Saul's "Elizabeth";

J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD., for permission to use "Dagonet's Canzonet"
and "Lost in France" by Ernest Rhys; and Eleanor Farjeon's
"The Night Will Never Stay";

THE DIAL PRESS for permission to use "The Rosary" from The Poems
of Robert Cameron Rogers;

P. J. AND A. E. DOBELL for permission to use James Thomson's "Art"
(Three Lyrics);

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY, INC., for permission to use "A Hymn,"

"Music," "To F. C. in Memoriam Palestine," "The Donkey" and
"The Praise of Dust" by G. K. Chesterton; "1914," "Sonnet" and
"The Treasure" by Rupert Brooke; "The Ballad of a Nun" by
John Davidson; "Last Memory," "The Return," "Memory" and
"Modern Beauty" by Arthur Symons; "To a Lost Love" by
Stephen Phillips; "They Are Not Long," "In Tempore Senectutis,"
"Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonæ sub Regno Cynara" and "Vain
Resolves" by Ernest Dowson; "Epilogue" by Lascelles Abercrom-
bie; "Daisy," "To a Snowflake" and "The Hound of Heaven"
by Francis Thompson; and "Spirit of Sadness," "The Passionate
Reader to His Poet," "Song," "The Lonely Dancer," "Flos
Ævorum" and "To a Bird at Dawn" by Richard Le Gallienne;
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY for permission to use Aline Kilmer's
"Prevision," "Olim Meminisse Juvabit," "Haunted," "Hill Coun-
try," "To a Young Aviator" and "My Mirror" from Candles
That Burn, copyright 1919; "Atonement" from Vigils, copyright
1921; and "To Aphrodite: With a Mirror" from The Poor King's
Daughter, copyright 1925; Joyce Kilmer's "Trees," "Martin"
and "Poets" from Trees and Other Poems, copyright 1914; J. C.
Squire's "The March," "In a Chair," "Tree-tops" and "The