Lyra Heroica (Yesterday’s Classics)

A choice introduction to heroic poetry for English readers. This wide-ranging collection of poems is designed to stir the imagination and inspire lofty thoughts in those approaching maturity. As Henley states in the preface, his ambition is “to set forth the beauty and the joy of living, the beauty and blessedness of death, the glory of battle and adventure, the nobility of devotion-to a cause, an ideal, a passion even-the dignity of resistance, the sacred quality of patriotism.” The compiler gives first place to “Agincourt” by Shakespeare, thinking “that a book of heroism could have no better starting-point than that heroic pair of names,” and closes with “The Flag of England” by Kipling, fitting bookends for this fine anthology. In between are 124 other poems by 57 other poets with only Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Scott, Byron, Macaulay, Longfellow, Whitman, Arnold, and Swinburne represented by three or more poems. The poems of each poet are grouped together, with ordering of poets by birthdate. A section of ballads is included, as a transition between the older poets and the newer ones.