Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/14

vi Not more than ten of the writers herein represented can be classed as literary men and women in that sense which conveys the idea of the pursuit of literature as a profession. The poets of the West are, or have been, lawyers, doctors, teachers, preachers, mechanics, farmers, editors, printers, and housekeepers. They have written at intervals of leisure, snatched from engrossing cares and exacting duties. Their literary labors, consequently desultory, have rarely been given to elaborate performances, but rather to the emotion, the impulse, or the passion of the hour; and yet it may be justly claimed that this volume presents a collection of poems, remarkable for variety of topics and versatility of treatment, exhibiting in a greater degree the feeling than the art of poetry, but preserving some specimens of descriptive and some of lyric verse, which are likely to keep the memories of their authors green for many generations yet to come.

In poetry breathing an earnest spirit of moral and political reform; expressing just appreciation of material beauty; revealing domestic affections; representing noble aspirations for intrinsic worth and force, the West is rich; but in humorous poems (except by way of parody) and in the more pretending styles, which are wrought by elaborate culture, it is far from opulent. The reasons are obvious. The earliest poem of the West was written in 1789. The regular chronological order of this volume comprises a period of only forty years—a period significant for perilous wars, for hard work, for amazing enterprise; all of which furnish materials for literature, but, until the mellowing influences of time have long hung over their history, repel poetry.

It has been the intention of the Editor to include in this collection every person, legitimately belonging to the West, who has gained recognition as a writer of reputable verse. He doubts not some have been omitted more worthy than some who are presented; but all coming within the standard established, of whom satisfactory information could be obtained, have been recorded. Facts calculated to make the volume nearer just, and nearer complete than it now is, will be gratefully received. The Editor trusts that a large number of fugitive poems peculiar to the West, Avhicli he found it impossible to collect, will hereafter be brought together.

For the measure of completeness with which the Editor has been enabled to discharge the duties he assumed, he is greatly indebted, for wise counsel as well as valuable assistance, to literary gentlemen in all parts of the West; among whom special acknowledgments are due John P. Foote, N. Peabody Poor, and William Henry Smith of Cincinnati; William D. Gallagher and Ben Casseday of Kentucky;