11426.59 .....ARD COLLEGE LIBRARY FROM THE BEQUEST OF 1018 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by DANA ESTES, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. ELECTROTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, Presswork by John Wilson and Son. DEDICATED то MAY JACKSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MO., ONE OF MY EARLIEST AND WARMEST FRIENDS AMONG THE "LITTLE FOLKS FOR WHOM IT IS PREPARED. N offering this compilation to the public, the editor does not deem an apology necessary, as there can be no question as to the value of Poetry in the education and refinement of children. The only question which arises is, What kind of poetry shall we place in our children's hands to entertain and instruct them? Some collections of children's songs consist mainly of verses, whose authors seem to think that any lack of beauty and rhythm may be made up by a "moral and application" well enforced; and others apparently believe that anything that has rhyme and jingle to it is good enough for children. A third class, going to the opposite extreme, exclude all not coming up to their standard of excellence as "best poems of the language." One of the most ambitious of the latter, claiming to contain nearly all the genuine poetry in our language fitted to please children," has excluded "nearly all verse written for children, and most of the poetry written about children." In the compilation of this volume, the editor has endeavored to avoid extremes, and, while rejecting all puerile and unmusical verses, to keep in mind the fact 66 66 8 PREFACE. that he is catering to youthful and undeveloped minds, and that the true end of poetry is to refine the taste, quicken the imagination, strengthen good aspirations, and make the heart of the reader more reverent as well as more mindful of its duties to others; in short, to make one less selfish, and, consequently, more happy. To this end he has selected a large number of acknowledged favorites, and confined himself mainly to well-known authors; and while he has chosen several pieces not so well known to fame, he has endeavored to choose none but those containing some poetic excellence. The devotional poems were chosen with the view to making them acceptable to all Christians, of whatever name or denomination. In order that the volume might be more entertaining and useful as a book for presentation, it has been embellished with an unusually large number of illustrations and page ornaments; and the fact that they are from the pencils of Millais, Birket Foster, and W. H. Rogers, is a sufficient guarantee of their merit. The editor acknowledges his indebtedness to Messrs. Ticknor & Fields, and other publishers, and the authors whom they represent, for their kindness in allowing him to use pieces of which they own the copyright. Trusting that both Chimes and Pictures may please the "Little Ones," and that they are not without merit enough to receive the approbation of some "children of a larger growth," the editor offers them to a discriminating public, knowing they must stand or fall on their merit alone. DORCHESTER, 1868. D. E. |