Excerpt from The Lyrics and Ballads of Sir Walter Scott The critic who would praise without reserve the poetry of Scott, has not only all the other critics against him, but has to reckon with Sir Walter himself. He frankly stated that he never cared much for his own poetry: he did not think it of sufficient excellence for his children to read, but regarded it as a 'light horse' kind of rhyme, fit for young men fond of adventure and of the open air. In his address to William Erskine, his friend and adviser, in the Preface to the Third Canto of Marmion, he speaks as all honest poets must speak to all such friends. These are continually asking a man not to be himself, not to do what heaven has given him the power of doing, but to attempt something else. Erskine wanted Scott to study the classics. 'Vos exemplaria Graeca Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.' 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.