Types of Children's Literature Part 73

STEVENSON, R. L. _Treasure Island_. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

SWIFT, J. _Gulliver's Travels_. D. C. Heath & Co., New York.

BOOKS ON CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

BARNES, W. _English in the Country School_. Row, Peterson & Co., Chicago.

CARPENTER, BAKER, and SCOTT. _The Teaching of English_. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.

CHUBB, P. _Teaching of English_ (elementary school edition).

Macmillan Company, New York.

COLBY, J. R. _Literature and Life in the School_. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

c.o.x, J. H. _Literature in the Common Schools_. Little, Brown & Co., Boston.

FIELD, W. T. _Fingerposts to Children's Reading_. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago.

HUNT. _What Shall We Read to the Children_? Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

LEE, G. S. _The Child and the Book_. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.

LOWE. _Literature for Children_. Macmillan Company, New York.

MACCLINTOCK, P. L. _Literature in the Elementary School_.

University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

OLCOTT, F. J. _The Children's Reading_. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

NOTES

Page 1. Attention is directed to the cla.s.sification of the Nursery Jingles as indicated in the Contents. Several cla.s.sifications of the Jingles, from one standpoint or another, have been made, that by J. O.

Halliwell being the most elaborate, and that by the late Charles Welsh being, perhaps, the most logical. The present cla.s.sification is to indicate more clearly the content, the source, the point, the "intrinsic motive" of the Jingles. It is hoped that this new cla.s.sification will at least make conspicuous the scope and variety, and the widely varying sources and themes, of the verses that children have been selecting and scholars have been collecting under the generic name of Nursery Jingles or Mother Goose Verses.

There are, of course, different versions of the Jingles, as there are of any truly "popular" form of literature. Of not many Jingles can it be said that any version is the oldest, the authoritative, the real version. The editor, therefore, despairing of finding the most accurate version, has endeavored to find the best. In many instances the best seemed the one he had heard in childhood rather than the one printed in any of the collections. The collection found most useful is Lang's _The Nursery Rhyme Book_ (Frederick Warne & Co., London, 1897).

The editor has tried to select those specimens that would give teacher and cla.s.s as many characteristic Mother Goose elements, touches, rhythms, and styles as possible. Many of the Jingles in this collection have not been printed before--at least, not to the editor's knowledge.

He believes, however, that they are all genuine Folk Jingles, and he hopes that their quaintness and novelty will justify their appearance here.

Page 13. The poems from Blake are from _Poetical Works_ (George Bell & Sons, London, 1909). The three poems are from the series called _Songs of Innocence_.

Page 15. Christina Rossetti's poems are from _Sing-Song_ (Macmillan & Co., London, 1907). The poems are not given t.i.tles in this, the authoritative edition.

Page 17. Stevenson's poems are from _Complete Poems_ (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1912). The poems reprinted here are all from the series called _A Child's Garden of Verses_. There are many good editions of the _Child's Garden_, the Scribner edition being one of the most beautiful.

Page 20. The Lucy Larcom pieces are from _Childhood Songs_ (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1874), and are here used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.

Page 22. The four poems of the Taylors' are from E. V. Lucas's edition of _The Original Poems and Others_ (Wells, Gardner, Darton & Co., London, 1903). The readings given here follow the last revision by Ann Taylor, some years after the death of Jane. In the case of "The Star"

the more familiar version seemed, to the present editor, the better, but he felt that he should conform to the reading that seems to have the strongest authority. No attempt is made to discriminate between the poems of the two sisters; all the poems are here ascribed to them jointly.

Page 26. The first two poems of Watts' are from _Divine Songs for Children_; the third poem, from _Moral Songs_, or, to give it its full t.i.tle, _A Slight Specimen of Moral Songs, such as I wish some happy and condescending genius would undertake for the use of children, and perform much better_. The two collections of poems for children are to be found in Watts's _Horae Lyricae_ (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1864). The advertis.e.m.e.nt to this edition states that "the volume is reprinted, with many corrections," from the quarto edition of Watts's entire works, published in 1753. Stanzas 5-10 and stanzas 12 and 14 have been omitted from the text of "A Cradle Hymn." They are given here, that the student may have before him an ill.u.s.tration of how necessary it is occasionally to expurgate material set before children.

5. Blessed babe! what glorious features, Spotless fair, divinely bright!

Must he dwell with brutal creatures?

How could angels bear the sight!

6. Was there nothing but a manger Cursed sinners could afford, To receive the heavenly Stranger?

Did they thus affront their Lord?

7. Soft, my child; I did not chide thee, Though my song might sound too hard; 'Tis thy mother sits beside thee, And her arms shall be thy guard.

8. Yet to read the shameful story, How the Jews abus'd their King, How they serv'd the Lord of Glory, Makes me angry while I sing.

9. See the kinder shepherds round him, Telling wonders from the sky; There they sought him, there they found him, With his virgin mother by.

10. See the lovely babe a-dressing; Lovely infant, how he smil'd!

When he wept, the mother's blessing Sooth'd and hush'd the holy child.

12. 'Twas to save thee, child, from dying, Save my dear from burning flame, Bitter groans and endless crying, That thy blest Redeemer came.

14. I could give thee thousand kisses, Hoping what I most desire; Not a mother's fondest wishes Can to greater joys aspire.

Page 28. Lewis Carroll's poems reprinted here are from _The Hunting of the Snark, and Other Poems_ (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1903).

"Father William" is from _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_; the others are from _Through the Looking-Gla.s.s_. All three poems are much better fun when read in their original setting.

Page 33. Edward Lear's poems are from _Nonsense Books_ (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1888). This includes all four of the Nonsense books by Lear: _Book of Nonsense_, 1846; _Nonsense Songs, Stories, etc._, 1871; _More Nonsense Pictures_, etc., 1872; and _Laughable Lyrics: A Fresh Book of Nonsense, etc._, 1877.

Page 37. The ballad of "Bonny Barbara Allan" is from Percy's _Reliques of Ancient English Poetry_ (Frederick Warne & Co., New York, 1880).

The spelling is modernized. Stanzas 5-8 have been inserted. They were discovered in Buchanan County, Virginia, by Professor C. Alphonso Smith, of the University of Virginia, and printed in his monograph, _Ballads Surviving in the United States_ (G. Schirmer, New York, 1916). This and dozens of other "popular" ballads are still sung in the mountains of the Southern states; undoubtedly they have been transmitted orally for generations.

Page 38. "Sir Patrick Spence" is from Percy's _Reliques_, the edition above mentioned. In the editor's opinion, this is the most effective of the several versions of this beautiful ballad.

Page 40. This version of "Robin Hood and Allin a Dale" is from Sargent and Kittredge's _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_ (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1904).

Page 43. "Kinmont Willie" is from _The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, together with The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_ (J. B.

Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1880). Sir Walter, in his introduction to the ballad, states that because the piece had been "much mangled by reciters," "some conjectural emendations have been absolutely necessary to render it intelligible." As no other version of the ballad has ever been discovered, no one knows just how many "conjectural emendations" Sir Walter made. It is safe to say, however, that the poet's taste and antiquarian interests would prevent his taking unwarrantable liberties with the original. In its present form it is one of the finest of the ballads, whatever change it may have suffered in pa.s.sing through Scott's hands.

Page 49. This poem of Longfellow's and "A Psalm of Life," page 83, are from _Complete Poetical Works_ (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1893). They are used by permission.

Page 52. "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and the Keats poem on page 75 are from _Complete Poetical Works and Letters_ (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1899). Lord Houghton's version, as given in _Life, Letters, and Literary Remains_, has some important variant readings.

Page 53. The Campbell poem is taken from the _Complete Poetical Works_ (Phillips, Samson & Co., Boston, 1857).