The request of the author that I should write a few words ofpreface to this collection of poems must be my excuse for obtrudingmyself upon the reader. Having frequently had the pleasure aseditor of _The Canadian Monthly_, of introducing many of Mrs.MacLean's poems to lovers of verse in the Dominion it was thoughtnot unfitting that I should act as foster father to the collectionof them here made and to bespeak for the volume at the hands atleast of all Canadians the appreciative and kindly reception due to a Child of the first winds and suns of a nation.Accepting the task assigned to me the more readily as I discern thehigh and sustained excellence of the collection as a whole let meask that the volume be received with interest as a further and mostmeritorious contribution to the poetical literature of our youngcountry (the least that can be said of the work), and with sympathyfor the intellectual and moral aspirations that have called it intobeing.There is truth, doubtless, in the remark, that we are enriched lessby what we have than by what we hope to have. As the poetic art inCanada has had little of an appreciable past, it may therefore bethought that the songs that are to catch and retain the ear of thenation lie still in the future, and are as yet unsung. Doubtlessthe chords have yet to be struck that are to give to Canada thesongs of her loftiest genius; but he would be an ill friend of thecountry's literature who would slight the achievements of thepresent in reaching solely after what, it is hoped, the coming timewill bring.But whatever of lyrical treasure the future may enshrine inCanadian literature, and however deserving may be the claims of thevolumes of verse that have already appeared from the native press,I am bold to claim for these productions of Mrs. MacLean's muse ahigh place in the national collection and a warm corner in thenational heart.To discern the merit of a poem is proverbially easier than to sayhow and in what manner it is manifested. In a collection the taskof appraisement is not so difficult. Lord Houghton has said: "Thereis in truth no critic of poetry but the man who enjoys it, and theamount of gratification felt is the only just measure ofcriticism." By this test the present volume will, in the main, bejudged. Still, there are characteristics of the author's work whichI may be permitted to point out. In Mrs. MacLean's volume whatquickly strikes one is not only the fact that the poems are all ofa high order of merit, but that a large measure of art and instinctenters into the composition of each of them. As readily will it berecognized that they are the product of a cultivated intellect, abright fancy, and a feeling heart. A rich spiritual life breathesthroughout the work, and there are occasional manifestations offervid impulse and ardent feeling. Yet there is no straining ofexpression in the poems nor is there any loose fluency of thought.Throughout there is sustained elevation and lofty purpose. Herleast work, moreover, is worthy of her, because it is always honestwork. With a quiet simplicity of style there is at the same time afine command of language and an earnest beauty of thought.