FOREWORD

Book II of this anthology has been compiled with the same two-fold purpose in mind that guided the Editors in preparing Book 1. The first aim has been to provide South African students with a large and varied selection of English verse chosen for its appeal. With this in mind the Editors have ranged the English speaking world in search of the best, and have collected in Vivid Verse Poems written in England, America, Canada, Australia and New York as well as in South Africa. Not only have some of the gems of the past been included, we have also selected suitable examples from the work of modern poets, many of whom are still alive. Some of these poems actually appeared in print for the first time the year before this collection was published.

The second aim has been to make available to students some of that quite considerable body of verse written by our own South African poets, whose work has hitherto been so largely ignored as far as anthologies are concerned. We have succeeded in our object to the extent that nearly one quarter of the poems in Book II are the work of Sout Africans, and they form a worthy part of our anthology.

To assist the student reading mainly for his or her own pleasure we have once again supplied many explanatory notes, usually at the foot of the relevant page. We have also continued the practice of inserting a short biographical note beneath the first poem of each author whose work is represented.  We wish to draw attention to the fact that in Book II there is no grading of the poems in order of difficulty, as in Book I. On the other hand the arrangement is not haphazard, the poems have been grouped in centuries according to the dates of birth of the poets.