Had it been possible in the space at command, I should also have had pleasure in considering the work of Frank Dempster Sherman, who is not only an accomplished lyrist, but who has divined the heart of the child and set it to music; the cheer-giving songs of Frank L. Stanton, fledged with the Southland sunshine and melody; and the verse-stories of Holman F. Day, bringing from the pines of Maine their pungent aroma of humor and pathos. Mr. Day covers an individual field, representing such phases of New England life as have been little celebrated hitherto, even by writers of fiction. He is familiar with every corner of Maine from the mountains to the sea, and writes of humanity in the concrete, sketching his types equally from the lumber camp or from the sailors and fishermen of the shore. In his latest volume they are drawn from the “Kin o’ Ktaadn,” and hold their way throughout its pages with a reality provoking both laughter and tears; indeed, one must seek far to find a keener humor, or one more infectious, than that of Mr. Day, or a more sympathetic penetration into the pathos of life. The heart is the book of his reading, and, in turn, the heart is the book of his writing. There is no attempt in these studies of the younger poets to group them into schools, to define them in relation to one another, or to hazard prophecies concerning them. Each is considered in his present accomplishment, whether the work be fresh from the pen, or come bringing with it the endorsement of time, since the song of yesterday may carry farther than that already borne on the wings of the years, and has equal claim to consideration in a volume devoted to the work of the younger singers; for only by such consideration shall we learn what is being done in our own day. J. B. R. CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORD vii I. RICHARD HOVEY 1 II. LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE 27 III. BLISS CARMAN 46 IV. LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY 75 V. GEORGE E. SANTAYANA 94 VI. JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY 110 VII. CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS 132 VIII. EDITH M. THOMAS 151 IX. MADISON CAWEIN 177 X. GEORGE E. WOODBERRY 196 XI. FREDERIC LAWRENCE KNOWLES 212 XII. ALICE BROWN 235 XIII. RICHARD BURTON 248 XIV. CLINTON SCOLLARD 269 XV. MARY MCNEIL FENOLLOSA 290 XVI. RIDGELY TORRENCE 299 XVII. GERTRUDE HALL 315 XVIII. ARTHUR UPSON 325 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 347 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS RICHARD HOVEY _Frontispiece_