This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

C O N T E N T S . E S S A Y S . Epic Poetry, . 1 Shakspeare, I - 39 Hamlet, . 83 P O E M S . PTo the Humming Bird, . 107 Eheu fugaces, Posthume, Posthume, Lahuntur anni, . 109 Lines to a withered leaf seen on a poets table, . 110 Memory, . 111 .-To the painted Columbine, 112 To the Fossil Flower, . 114 T o the Canary Bird, 117 a Nature, . 118 . The Tree, . 119 The Strangers Gift, . . 120 Thy beauty fades, 121 Beauty, . 122 t-The Wind-Flower, . 123, The Robin, . . . 124, , -The Columbine, . 125 The New Birth, . 1 The Son, . 127 i l l n Him we live, . 128, noch, . 129 CONTENTS. The Mornimg Watch, . 130 The Living God, . 131 The Garden, . . 132 L--The Song, 1 33 Love, . . 1 Day 7 135 Night, . . 136 - he Latter Rain, . 137 The Slave, . . 138 Bread, . 139 The Spirit Land, . . 140 Worship, . 141 The Soldier, . . 142 The Trees of Life, 143 Thc Spirit, . . 14.44 lJWe Presence, . 145 The Dead, . . 146 I was sick and in prison, 147 A he Violet, . . 148 The Heart, 149 The Robe, . . 150 . Life, 151 The War, . . 152 The Grave Yard, . 153 L..-Thy Brothers Blood, . 1M The Jew, . 155 Faith, . . 156 The Ark, . 157 The Earth, . . 158 The Rose, . 159 Morning, . . 160 Nature, . 161 Change, . 162 The Poor, . 163 The Clay, . . 164 CONTENTS. vii Who hath ears to hear let him hear, To the pure all things are pure, He was acquainted with grief, . Ye gave me no meat, The Acorn, The Rail Road, the Disciple, . Time, . The Call, . The Cottage, . The Prayer,

This complete scholarly edition of the poems of Jones Very (1813-80) provides the requisite materials for a major reappraisal of his work and standing among the significant figures of American Transcendentalism. Collecting 862 poems, the volume makes available for the first time all of Very's known poems, including much previously unpublished or uncollected material. Very, a New England Transcendentalist and a protege of Ralph Waldo Emerson, is one of the underrated American poets of the nineteenth century. Though he attracted a select audience in his day, serious study of Very's work in this century has been hampered by the lack of a complete, convenient, and reliable edition of his poetry. Perhaps even more discouraging to readers of older collections of Very's poems has been the puzzling variance in the style and quality of the verse. This edition, in which the poems are dated and chronologically arranged, reveals the three stages of Very's poetic development, out of which the distinctive genius of the second period clearly emerges. Written under the influence of a powerful psychological/spiritual experience, the ecstatic utterances of this period are by turns breathless in their intensity and tranquil in their serene contentment. This complete edition presents a critical, unmodernized, clear-text version of each poem, reflecting as nearly as possible the author's final intention. A textual introduction outlines editorial procedures and problems, and a general introduction places Very among his contemporaries, discusses the mystical experience that transformed his life and poetry, reviews the major related criticism, and assesses his poetic achievements. Historical notes and a full textual apparatus complete the edition.