Produced by Eric Eldred, Charles Bidwell
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
byBLISS PERRY
Professor of English Literature in Harvard University
Author of "A STUDY OF PROSE FICTION," "WALT WHITMAN,"
"THE AMERICAN MIND," etc.
The method of studying poetry which I have followed in this book wassketched some years ago in my chapter on "Poetry" in Counsel Upon theReading of Books. My confidence that the genetic method is the naturalway of approaching the subject has been shared by many lovers of poetry.I hope, however, that I have not allowed my insistence upon the threefoldprocess of "impression, transforming imagination, and expression" toharden into a set formula. Formulas have a certain dangerous usefulnessfor critics and teachers, but they are a very small part of one's trainingin the appreciation of poetry.
I have allotted little or no space to the specific discussion of epic anddrama, as these types are adequately treated in many books. Our owngeneration is peculiarly attracted by various forms of the lyric, and inPart Two I have devoted especial attention to that field.
While I hope that the book may attract the traditional "general reader,"I have also tried to arrange it in such a fashion that it may be utilizedin the classroom. I have therefore ventured, in the Notes andIllustrations and Appendix, to suggest some methods and material for theuse of students.
I wish to express my obligations to Professor R. M. Alden, whoseIntroduction to Poetry and English Verse I have used in my own Harvardcourses in poetry. His views of metre have probably influenced mine evenmore than I am aware. The last decade, which has witnessed such anextraordinary revival of interest in poetry, has produced many valuablecontributions to poetic theory. I have found Professor Fairchild's Makingof Poetry particularly suggestive. Attention is called, in the Notes andBibliography, to many other recent books on the subject.
Professors A. S. Cook of Yale and F. B. Snyder of Northwestern Universityhave been kind enough to read in manuscript certain chapters of this book,and Dr. P. F. Baum of Harvard has assisted me most courteously. I amindebted to several fellow-writers for their consent to the use ofextracts from their books, particularly to Brander Matthews for a passagefrom These Many Years and to Henry Osborn Taylor for a passage from hisClassical Heritage of the Middle Ages.
I wish also to thank the publishers who have generously allowed me to usebrief quotations from copyrighted books, especially Henry Holt & Co. forpermission to use a quotation and drawing from William James'sPsychology, and The Macmillan Company for permission to borrow from JohnLa Farge's delightful Considerations on Painting.