Page:Poems written during the progress of the abolition question in the United States.djvu/15



has been inducted to collect the fugitive pieces which compose this little volume, by observing the care with which they have been sought for and preserved, long after the events which gave rise to them have passed. This gives him to know that they are not merely occasional poems, but true poetry;—the germs of great deeds, cast forth into 'the seed-field of opinion.'

The wish to bind them together is strengthened in the editor's mind by the knowledge that the author is himself but too careless of preserving their form, as long as their spirit is kindling up in the community.

Those who have read Mogg Megone will see in the same easy strength of versification;