The Golden Treasury / Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language and arranged with Notes

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

32373

Title

The Golden Treasury / Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language and arranged with Notes

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Francis T. Palgrave's *The Golden Treasury* curates the finest lyrical poetry from three centuries of English literature, spanning Shakespeare to Wordsworth. This anthology emphasizes brevity, passion, and unity, offering a curated journey through themes of love, nature, time, and mortality.

Summary up to 500 words

Francis T. Palgrave's *The Golden Treasury* stands as a definitive anthology of English lyrical poetry, curated to capture the evolution of the art form from the Shakespearean age through the Wordsworthian era. Palgrave explicitly excludes narrative, descriptive, and didactic works unless they possess the rapidity of movement and emotional coloring characteristic of song. His selection criteria prioritize poetic excellence, originality, and emotional resonance over mere popularity or strict chronological order. Instead, the volume is arranged by subject and feeling to present a unified evolution of English thought, divided into four books representing distinct eras: the Shakespearean, Miltonic, Gray's, and Wordsworthian periods. The collection features iconic pieces that define their respective ages, including Shakespeare's meditation on time's decay in 'When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced,' Wordsworth's famous encounter with nature in 'Daffodils' and his nostalgic reflection on the Braes of Yarrow, Keats's rich sensory imagery in 'Ode to Autumn,' and Spenser's celebration of swans in 'The Swans.' Palgrave justifies these choices by arguing that poetry offers treasures "more golden than gold," providing appropriate blessings for every stage of life: experience for youth, calm for maturity, and youthfulness for age. He dedicates the work to Alfred Tennyson, hoping it serves as a lifelong fountain of innocent pleasure for all readers. Palgrave's preface reveals his rigorous methodology; he systematically read vast existing collections to ensure no omissions were due to oversight, retaining only the most poetical versions of texts where multiple existed. He acknowledges that while some familiar verses are included, many lesser-known gems are also present, aiming to teach indifferent readers to love poetry and deepen the appreciation of those who already do. By avoiding a rigid chronological sequence within each era, Palgrave ensures the volume reflects the natural growth of English poetry without the wearisome jarring of rapid shifts between old and new styles. Ultimately, the anthology aims to be a store-house of delight for laborers and the poor alike, interpreting the lessons of Nature through the voices of England's greatest singers.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32373.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg32373.epub

Download EPUB

Downloaded at

2026-08-18 23:28 UTC

Categories

• Poetry