INTRODUCTION

their poetry as a whole, and make its excellencies and
its limits intelligible. Without a knowledge of
Dryden's dependence on court patronage and of the
political and religious struggle over the Exclusion
Bill, it is impossible fully to appreciate his satires,
especially Absalom and AchitopheL The dream in which
Coleridge composed Kubla Khan and the interruption
which prevented him from remembering the whole
poem, the description that inspired Wordsworth's
Solitary Reaper, explain much that would otherwise
be obscure, and effectively heighten our appreci-
ation. To understand is to forgive : it is also to
appreciate.

It is often illuminating, too, if a comparison is made
between poems by two authors on the same theme,
or between a poem and the source on which it
is founded. To compare Tennyson's Morte d* Arthur
with the original prose version of Malory is a valu-
able lesson in criticism and appreciation : to read
Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd to his Love along
with Stevenson's Romance, Wotton's Happy Life or
W. B. Yeats's Lake Isle of Innisfree is to throw into
relief the characteristic qualities of each poet. But
the main thing is the poetry itself, and criticism and
commentary are justified only in so far as they add
to the enjoyment of the poetry : they must never be
allowed to usurp the main interest.

On such a foundation of reading, understanding,
and memory, good taste and appreciation may be
trusted to rise of themselves. A touchstone will have
been provided to which other poems may be brought
for judgment: a core will have been formed round
which will gather other poems that have been tried
and found worthy.

This anthology aims at providing material for the
formation of a sound poetic appreciation. While
avoiding more difficult and abstract poems, it con-

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