Excerpt from Poetry of the People Here are ballads of the olden time, direct and naive, easy to understand, save where some antiquated word or phrase may intervene, and then glossary and notes stand ready to help out, - ballads made to say and to sing; stories of heroic adventure, romantic and supernatural; whilom fyttes and modern instances of patriotism and devotion; songs of homely sentiment, popular spirit, and nationality; themes mostly external and concrete, - the poetry of history, such as appealed naively to the listen ing and consentaneous crowd. And if occasionally there is here to be found the poetry also of suggestion for the individual who reads and reflects, it is always of emotions simple and unsophisticated, universal, abiding, and sincere. Here, too, are manly ideals, ancient but ever-living. If this little bark succeeds in making the haven of the heart, it may also, perchance, succeed in unlading the hope with which it is fraught. Who can estimate the gain to the American Spirit, and by that we mean the spirit of rational freedom expressed in terms of nationality, the gain that would ensue, if our youth would but occupy and prize the literary heritage that is theirs? The poetry of the people of England, Ireland, Scotland, and America has for us a certain scriptural worth as well as historic. Is it not the immemorial record of sentiment, sacrifice, and ideal - the most enduring and the noblest of our fore fathers; is it not the conserver of that expe'rience whence proceed our present prestige and security? Now, naturally effective in the development and discipline of the national pride as is an intimate acquaintance with national history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.