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The poetical works of the Rev. H. F. Lyte
The poetical works of the Rev H F Lyte Author:Henry Francis Lyte Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: TALES IN VERSE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER The history of ' Tales on the Lord's Prayer ' is as follows: Mr. Charles Oilier, author of ' Inesilla,' etc., proposed to ... more »Mr. Lyte the idea of illustrating the petitions of the Lord's Prayer by a series of short tales. The idea struck him as a happy one, and being at the time incapacitated by ill-health from pursuing his professional labours, he willingly undertook the task, and as he had much leisure, he resolved to attempt it in verse rather than in prose. When, however, the first rough sketch of the work was drawn up, the author was enabled to resume his usual avocations, and being called to a sphere of laborious exertion, he neglected the tales and consigned them to his writing-desk, where they would in all probability have still slumbered but for the kind importunities of those who had seen them in their unfinished state, and who urged their publication. The author likewise felt it to be due to the gentleman with whom the work originated that he should either publish what he had prepared or relinquish wholly the design, and thus afford his friend the opportunity of putting it into other hands, or of following it up himself. Under these circumstances he resolved to send his little volume to the press. He cannot assent to the maxim of a writer of the day, of whose talents he has the highest admiration, that the first intention of the poet should be to please. The author's first and great ambition in his little work is to do good, and he only aims at pleasing in order that he may be the more extensively useful. This object will, he trusts, plead his excuse with those who may think that things of grave import are sometimes handled by him in too light and playful a style. He begs of them to consider that there is a great difference between ta...« less