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[page iii, unnumbered:]
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PREFACE TO THE POEMS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THESE
trifles are
collected
and republished chiefly with a view to their redemption from the many
improvements
to which they have been subjected while going at random "the rounds of
the press." I am naturally anxious that what I have written should
circulate
as I wrote it, if it circulate at all. In defence of my own taste,
nevertheless,
it is incumbent upon me to say that I think nothing in this volume of
much
value to the public, or very creditable to myself. Events not to be
controlled
have prevented me from making, at any time, any serious effort in what,
under happier circumstances, would have been the field of my choice.
With
me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions
should
be held in reverence; they must not — they cannot at will be excited,
with
an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations,
of
mankind.
E. A. P.
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