ERRATUM. In 'A Man's Heart,' page 191, line 18, for in each tick o' t' clock' read 'in INTRODUCTION. [THIS essay was prefixed in 1850 to 'Egeria, and other Poems,' and is reprinted in this place not only as an introduction to that poem, but to the whole collection, as fully expressing the author's idea on Poetry, the themes proper for poetical treatment, and the duties of the poet in an unpoetical time.] THOUGH it may look like a truism to assert that poetry has been the preacher of virtue, the inciter of heroism, and the refiner of society; yet the fact needs repeating, in consequence of the misconception that seems to have arisen in our day on the true nature of poetry, and the duty of the poet. Modern civilization is said to be weary of poetry; or, if not wearied with the poets of past ages, to be quite contented with them, and to wish for no more. The very name of poet has latterly been received with a sneer. The poet has been thought a trifler; the obstinate devotee of a defunct art, which, in its most vigorous time, was only fitted for the amusement of the idle and the frivolous. This misconception results from various causes partly from the ignorance or indifference of critics and philosophers; partly from the more unpardonable indifference of some, not unworthy of the name of poets, who have depreciated their own calling; and, in a still greater degree, from the incompetence of the vast multitude of persons who have been styled poets without any right to the title-who have considered poetry and verse to be identical, or who have not known that the hold of poetry upon the fancy and the imagination is secondary to its sway over the heart and the intellect, and that the true poet can preach and prophesy as well as sing. Lord Bacon did some harm in this respect. Being more conversant with the pretensions of the rhymers of his day than with the performances of the poets, he misstated the whole object of poetry. In his famous Essay on Truth, he asserted that the proper element of poetry was fiction, as distinguished from, and the opposite of, truth. One of the later schools of the Grecians,' said he, 'is at a stand to think what should be in it, that men should love lies, where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell this same truth is a naked and open daylight that doth not show the masques, and mummeries, and triumphs of the world half so stately and daintily as candlelight. Truth may, perhaps, come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day, but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or à carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. A MIXTURE OF A LIE DOTH EVER ADD A PLEASURE. One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy, "the wine of demons," because it filleth the imagination, and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie.' So said the great philosopher; and so too many have believed, because they were told to believe by one who spoke with authority. Lord Bacon did not reflect on the abuse of this word, LIE. HE, of all men, ought not to have forgotten what he so well knew, that a fiction is not necessarily a LIE. He should have remembered that fables are truths to the wise. Plato, though he would have banished poets from his ideal republic, meaning thereby the writers of licentious |