Before The Curfew And Other Poems, Chiefly Occasional

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin and Company. Very Good-. 1888. 1st Edition; 1st Issue. Hardcover. This book is in Very Good- condition and was possibly issued without a dust jacket. The spine ends and corners of the book covers have some light edge wear, rubbing and nicking. The covers have noticeable ground-in dirt and toning, especially to the spine and edges of the book covers. The text pages are clean and bright. There is a previous owner's bookplate (James Fraser Gluck) on the front pastedown page. "Holmes is one of the Fireside Poets, together with William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and John Greenleaf Whittier. These poets—whose writing was characterized as family-friendly and conventional—were among the first Americans to build substantial popularity in Europe. Holmes in particular believed poetry had "the power of transfiguring the experiences and shows of life into an aspect which comes from the imagination and kindles that of others". Due to his immense popularity during his lifetime, Holmes was often called upon to produce commemorative poetry for specific occasions, including memorials, anniversaries and birthdays. Referring to this demand for his attention, he once wrote that he was "a florist in verse, and what would people say / If I came to a banquet without my bouquet?" As critic Hyatt Waggoner noted, however, "very little ... Survives the occasions that produced it". Holmes became known as a poet who expressed the benefits of loyalty and trust at serious gatherings, as well as one who showed wit at festivities and celebrations. Edwin Percy Whipple for one considered Holmes to be "a poet of sentiment and passion. Those who know him only as a comic lyricist, as the libellous laureate of chirping follow and presumptuous egotism, would be surprised at the clear sweetness and skylark thrill of his serious and sentimental compositions". " (frrom Wikipedia) .