INTRODUCTORY.
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Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness."
In bringing out at this time a new edition of the poems of one of the sweetest and most intellectual spirits that this country ever knew; in introducing to an entirely new generation of readers the writings of one who for forty-five years has lain beneath the lilies and the violets in a quiet country church-yard on the borders of Lake Champlain, we feel that we are performing a worthy act which cannot but be fully appreciated and acknowledged.
The simple fact that a young girl of less than seventeen summers, should have written the poems contained in this volume, was, and would be even at this time, something remarkable, especially when we remember that in those days there were but few female poets in the land, and none who could have laid claim, at so early an age, to such tender and thoughtful effusions. It is sad to think that this young girl, so talented and so filled with inspiration; who seemed to be imbued with the very spirit and