This collection of humorous and witty poems, selected by noted literary critic James Henry Leigh Hunt, offers readers a rich and entertaining survey of English poetry. With illuminating commentary and critical analysis, Wit and Humour provides a unique and insightful view of the English poetic tradition. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Thee Witty and Humorous Side of the English Poets: With a Variety of Specimens Arranged in Periods The object of the author of this volume has been a modest one. He has not attempted to write a full and complete history of English wit and humour as discovered in our poetry - for that purpose several such volumes would have been required. But he has assayed to give a sketch, how ever rapid, of that history, illustrating his remarks by quotations designed at once to give pleasure in themselves and to convey an idea of the difierent styles of difierent writers. The author's hope is that this volume may be the means of inducing the reader to go more deeply into its fascinating subject. It can hardly be possible, he thinks, for any one to make acquaintance with extracts from the works of wits and humourists like Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dryden, Pope, Goldsmith, (lower, and the rest, without yearning to render that acquaintance more close and intimate. This volume is offered, then, both as an inducement to further study, and as, in itself, a popular compendium; and it is hoped that it may prove acceptable and serviceable in both. 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.