This book is the product from employment of "spare moments," now and then, among the hours of a life, crowded full, it would seem, of busy and absorbing work. Some of it has been written in the sick-room, in intervals from severe pain. The thought was there conceived as a testimonial to kind friends in times when their gentle ministrations seemed God sent. But the work has grown upon me and I offer it to the public. May it bring to others in reading as much interest and pleasure as its preparation has given me. Many of the shorter poems have already been published in periodicals, but the greater part of the work is for the first time put forward.