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PREFACE

        The object of this small book is to give a critical survey of the work of the major Romantic poets. By way of introduction, I have added a chapter on Gray. The main difficulty has been one of compression; so I have kept strictly to the poetry itself, and a few major critical documents. Much of what is to be said has often been said before; but most of the short general treatments of the field were written some time ago. There has been much detailed work and many shifts of taste in recent years. I have tried to take account of these, and, without any particular search for novelty, to write from the point of view of contemporary critical opinion.

        Part of this book was written while I was Visiting Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: I should like to thank my colleagues there for a year’s work in a delightful environment. I am also grateful to Professor Basil Willey for his helpful criticism.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION (1957)

          I should have liked to re-write the book at much greater length. Since this is not possible, I have added to the “Suggestions for Further Reading” and a little to the notes. A few mistakes have also been corrected, and a page or so added to the Wordsworth and Coleridge chapter.