Popular Poetic Pearls, and Biographies of Poets

"In Popular Poetic Pearls we have presented in one volume a class of poems that live in the popular mind, and that are the delight of all classes of readers. Persons who have not the time or means for an extended study of the poets, may be delighted here with the sweetest strains from the world of poetry. We have also gathered numerous sweet and tender poems that, in a moment of inspiration, were breathed out from obscure sources into an immortal literary life. These poems have just as firm hold upon the affections of the people as have the utterances of the master poets. In this volume we may learn something of the genius and all-embracing humanity of Wordsworth, the magic of Byron and Coleridge, the ever murmuring music of Bums and Moore, the enchanting verse of Tennyson and our own beloved Longfellow; and our hearts, like an i untouched harp, may break forth into sweet, harmonious songs when touched by the gentle influence of Poetic Pearls" -- Preface.