Arthur Milman
Published: 2015-07-10
Total Pages: 288
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Excerpt from English and Scotch Historical Ballads: Edited With Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, for the Use of Schools In an historical survey of the popular poetry of all nations, an able German writer thus defines the sense in which he uses the term. Popular poetry, he says, is that which 'has had its origin among and has emanated from the people, which has been vivified by its joys, watered by its tears, and which then returning again, as it were, to the soil whence it was drawn, has largely influenced its character.' At some period of a nation's history it seems universally to prevail, and the especial form that it assumes, the particular need which it seems to supply, cannot fail to ensure its acceptance with a people at that period of their development when, as yet untinctured by letters, they mainly depend upon oral transmission for a knowledge of past events and of great deeds, doing, or done in days gone by, deeds in which their pride and glory as a nation may consist. For what are the requisites, the general characteristics, of popular poetry? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.