The reason for the outstanding quality of the songs of that period is simply the fact that it was an amorous age in England. Love is the great inspirer of this type of poetry and song. Love is an elemental instinct, and rhyme and rhythm are the elemental ways of expressing things. Therefore, love finds its most suitable expression in lyric verse. Lovers must sing. If their suit is successful, their song is gay. If it meets with temporary or permanent disappointment, their song is grave. In either case, they must sing. Whenever the day of the lover comes in any day or time, and it always does come, the period during which he reigns will be an age of song. After reading or hearing the songs of the Elizabethan period in England, there is little in the history of the times that needs to occasion surprise to one. The writers of that period were simply representative of their time. Therefore, they expressed its spirit in their singing. The soul of the England of their time breathes in their verse. We have developed our distinct types of music in America. Each of these is also representative either of a period in our history or an element in our national spirit. It was in the stirring days of the revolutionary period that the American spirit was fully awakened. That consciousness naturally found expression in a type of song. It was such songs as “Yankee Doodle” that gave it voice. In the heat and fervor of our next great war was born the majestic national anthem to which the recent trials have given a new meaning. The fraternal strife of the Civil War naturally required two sets of songs to express its spirit. The North sang its courage up with “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys are Marching,” “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” and “Marching Through Georgia.” At the same time, the soul of the South was speaking in the words and music of such songs as “Dixie,” “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” and “Maryland, My Maryland.” The Spanish-American War and the World War just ended each brought its contribution of song to the lore of our times. Those who come after us will long be able to recall the spirit of these two periods by singing their songs again. We have also had our lyric age in America. The quality of its output does not even suggest comparison with that of the Elizabethan work, but we have had it. The crude backwoodsmen who occupied the stage during the earlier days of our wilderness life were normal people. They not only had their loves, hopes, joys, and sorrows, but they also sang about them. The result was often pitifully sentimental, but it was sincere.