Between Whiles Or Wayside Amusements Of A Working Life

Excerpt from Between Whiles: Or Wayside Amusements of a Working Life The title of this book, which may seem a strange one, is due to the simple fact, that nearly all the verse' contributed by myself was composed at odd times, in' walking or riding or in bed and, generally, by way of recreation. I have had plenty of work in the study at most times: but the only verse-writing done by me there consists of a few translations printed in my commentary on Virgil. These, as they came in the course of work, may count as work; but any other versifying of mine (psalms and hymns included) must rank with what the younger Pliny calls 'lusus, ' amusements of spare hours. And such amusements, alternating with others different in kind, I have found through life not merely harmless, but wholesome to body and mind. Professional scholars need not be ashamed of recreations which have occupied the leisure of poets so illustrious as Milton and Gray, of statesmen so eminent as Grenville, Wellesley and Stratford de Redcliffe. In public education it has not been my theory or practice to worry pupils with verse-writing. Boys who learn a language should at least have the chance given them of appreciating and imitating its poets. Those who can avail themselves of that chance are entitled to a fair share of reward and promotion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.