THE SINGING HEART BOOKS TO READ PROBABLY no period since the age of Queen Elizabeth has produced so many delightful and interesting volumes of lyrical poetry as our own. The list which follows is suggestive of a few of the best. The collections will suggest other works by poets you like especially well. Poems by Individual Authors DE LA MARE, WALTER. Peacock Pie. Henry Holt and Company The Listeners. Henry Holt and Company Delicate, fanciful verses of the experiences of very little boys and girls. Superstitions, fairies, elves, and stars help make up these songs of enchantment. DUNBAR, PAUL L. Complete Poems. Dodd, Mead and Company Here are lilting negro lyrics done by a negro himself. He knows how. FIELD, EUGENE. Poems of Childhood. Charles Scribner's Sons Quaint story poems and musical, dreamy lullabies. This volume contains "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" as well as "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." KILMER, JOYCE. Trees and Other Poems. Doubleday, Doran and Company LINDSAY, VACHEL. Collected Poems. The Macmillan Company Lindsay has revived the music of the syncopated negro melodies and fits it to all kinds of experiences. His tramps through the prairies furnished him many interesting themes for poetry. LONGFELLOW, HENRY W. Complete Poetical Works. Houghton Mifflin Company Story poems, largely of olden days in America, with some thoughts on Longfellow's experiences in life. Lowell, James R. Complete Poetical Works. Houghton Mifflin Company Poems about the everyday happenings of life, with much about nature and human nature in Civil War days. MILNE, A. A. When We Were Very Young. E. P. Dutton and Company Christopher Robin, aged five, doesn't miss a thing from the time he gets up in the morning till he goes to bed at night. The poems tell his experiences from a child's point of view in verses of real charm. Now We Are Six. E. P. Dutton and Company NOYES, ALFRED. Collected Poems. Frederick A. Stokes Company RILEY, JAMES WHITCOMB. Rhymes of Childhood. The Bobbs-Merrill Company Poems of the simple joys of childhood, farm, June, and the old swimmin' hole. SANDBURG, CARL. Selected Poems. Harcourt, Brace and Company The poetry of the city and of pioneer days in the Middle West — real experiences told in vigorous original verse. SARETT, LEW. Slow Smoke. Henry Holt and Company No man has ever had a greater love for the out-of-doors or a greater reverence for nature. SCOTT, WALTER. Complete Poetical Works. Houghton Mifflin Company TEASDALE, SARA. Flame and Shadow. The Macmillan Company Sara Teasdale's delightful personality and her enthusiasm for the beautiful in life and in nature shine through all her poetry. TENNYSON, ALFRED. Complete Poetical Works. The Macmillan Company Beautiful musical poems of King Arthur and his knights, life in England, and thoughts about life. WHITTIER, JOHN G. Complete Poetical Works. Houghton Mifflin Company Story poems of New England farm and seacoast, with gentle thoughts about men and life. Collections of Verse BENÉT, W. R. Poems for Youth. E. P. Dutton and Company This collection of verse, chosen according to the tastes of young people, is arranged in chronological order to show the development of American poetry from the early days to the present. DE LA MARE, WALTER. Come Hither. Alfred A. Knopf A very large collection of musical verse, illustrated by pen and ink sketches. The poems are whimsically grouped according to the poet's fancy. The collection contains a large proportion of older verse. DRINKWATER, JOHN. The Way of Poetry: An Anthology for Younger Readers. This book of verse contains many of the best selections of English and American literature, chosen by a man who is himself a poet. FORBES, ANITA. Modern Verse. Henry Holt and Company Verse largely of our own day, which appeared during and right after the World War. The poems are grouped by themes, such as Poems of the City and Poems of the War. GORDON, M., and KING, M. B. Verse of Our Day. D. Appleton and Company Poems by writers, both new and old, grouped by subjects, such as Nature, The City, People, and Experience. A collection which has proved its popularity with boys and girls. MEARNS, HUGHES. Creative Youth. Doubleday, Doran and Company Verses written by high school girls and boys of The Lincoln School of Teachers College in New York City. MERRILL, A. M., and SPRAGUE, G. E. W. Contemporary Verse. Little, Brown and Company English and American poems grouped by authors. Full of interesting illustrations and information about the poets. MOUNTSIER, MABEL. Singing Youth. Harper and Brothers Verses written by boys and girls of all ages in all parts of the United States. RICHARDS, MRS. WALDO. Melody of Earth. Houghton Mifflin Company Poems of the beauty of earth and nature. -Star Points. Houghton Mifflin Company SPAULDING, S. T., and SPAULDING, F.T. Open Gates. Houghton Mifflin Company A book of verses, old and new, chosen according to the interests of boys and girls, with no notes or helps of any kind; “the gates are open” for the enjoyment of the verses themselves. STEVENSON, B. E. The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks. Henry Holt and Company A very large collection of new and old verse for boys and girls. TEASDALE, SARA. Rainbow Gold. The Macmillan Company A beautifully illustrated book of poems by authors of all ages. “There is nothing in the book that is not pure gold." UNTERMEYER, LOUIS. This Singing World. Harcourt, Brace and Company A collection similar in style and spirit to This Singing World, but divided into two parts: Poetry between 1800 and 1850, and Poetry since 1850. WILKINSON, MARGUERITE. Contemporary Poetry. Harcourt, Brace and Company Works of English and American poets, with a photograph of each author and several of his best poems. CANOE TRAILS1 ARTHUR GUITERMAN BROAD is the track that the steamer takes Wide are the waves of the windy lake, Dear are the lakes to me; And the sparkling sound is good, Bright is the river too; But the stream that winds to the heart of the woods Is the trail of the little canoe. Dip of the paddles, gurgle and splash, Quiet and bird-note clear, White of the birch, gray of the ash Balm of the heart is here. Here where the bolder footpaths cease, Here where the best is true, The loveliest road to the shrines of peace Is the trail of the little canoe. Arthur Guiterman (1871- ), well-known editor and journalist, was born of American parents in Vienna, Austria, but has spent most of his life in New York City. His humorous verse and rhymed book reviews, which have appeared in Life, are familiar to the reading public. His volume of Ballads of Old New York contains humorous tales with a spicy historical flavor. The poem published here shows that though he lives in a great city, he loves the country as much as the rest of us do. 1 From Guiterman's The Mirthful Lyre, copyrighted by Harper and Brothers. Used by permission of the publishers. TRAVEL 1 EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE railroad track is miles away, And the day is loud with voices speaking, All night there isn't a train goes by, Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming, My heart is warm with the friends I make, No matter where it's going. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892- ) won the Columbia Poetry Prize of five hundred dollars for the best book of poems published in 1921. Born in Rockland, Maine, she lived most of her childhood in New England. She graduated from Vassar College in 1917, and since that time has devoted herself to literature. One of the most talented of all the younger poets, she writes verse often of a clever, brilliant, cynical vein. She is distinguished from many of the present-day poets by her willingness to clothe her thoughts in simple, direct words and in easy meters. "She drives home arrows of wit and beauty, singing as they go." Among her best known volumes are A Few Figs from Thistles and The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems. 1 From Edna St. Vincent Millay's Second April, copyrighted 1921 by Mitchell Kennerley. Used by permission. |