THE method of studying poetry which I have
followed in this book was sketched some years
ago in my chapter on "Poetry" in Counsel
Upon, the Reading of Books. My confidence
that the genetic method is the natural way of
approaching the subject has been shared by
many lovers of poetry. I hope, however,
that I have not allowed my insistence upon
the threefold process of "impression, trans-
forming imagination, and expression" to
harden into a set formula. Formulas have
a certain dangerous usefulness for critics
and teachers, but they are a very small
part of one's training in the appreciation of
poetry.

I have allotted little or no space to the
specific discussion of epic and drama, as these
types are adequately treated in many books.
Our own generation is peculiarly attracted by
various forms of the lyric, and in Part Two I
have devoted especial attention to that field.

While I hope that the book may attract the
traditional "general reader," I have also tried

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