Anthology of English Poetry

This Anthology contains poems which for the most part have been classified as the masterpieces of English poetry. The selections have been arranged according to the various historical periods in the development of English literature from “Beowulf” to Kipling. The first part of the Anthology is from the Anglo-Saxon Period to the Puritan Period, and the second part, from the Puritan Period to the Neo-Romantic Period. The poems have been annotated for colleges and general classes in English literature. That there is need of an Anthology of English Poetry for use in the upper classes of colleges recent correspondence with a large number of colleges has amply proven. Too much emphasis cannot be put upon this study, and pupils who are ignorant of the great body of English poetry should not be graduated from any English course. In this Anthology a background of the historical periods in the development of English literature has been used as a setting for poems which have been carefully selected. The poems are linked together by notes and quotations calculated to make pupils susceptible to philosophical and aesthetic criticism. The few questions introduced possess the formal unity of showing the indebtedness of best poetry to preceding poetry. To illustrate, when pupils are studying Collins’ “Ode To Evening,” they are asked to interpret it by applying as a touchstone the imagery of Milton’s “II Penseroso.” By this method, as advance is made from masterpiece to masterpiece, pupils realise that they are responsible for previously mastered material. As the book follows the plan by which literature, both prose and poetry, is taught in most colleges, it is believed that here also the book will find a cordial welcome.