Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by

EDWARD HOPKINS,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Connecticut.

THE first edition of the poems of Brainard appeared during the lifetime of the author, (1825,) and embraced nearly one half of the poetry contained in the present volume. That edition was revised by him; and, as some of the lines differ materially from the copy originally published in the Connecticut Mirror, it may be interesting to those familiar with his writings to compare them. A few of these alterations will be found in the addenda, and a single instance may be noticed, in comparing the facsimile in this volume with the revised copy.

A second edition was published in 1832, and an addition was made to the contents of the previous one of about fifty pieces, which had appeared chiefly in the Mirror after the Spring of 1825. The mechanical execution and general appearance of that volume were unfavorable; and in these respects it was not congenial to the tastes of the lovers of poetry generally, or satisfactory to the numerous friends of the bard. It was also, for the most part, printed in the absence of the publisher, a fact which may account for many of the numerous errors, chiefly in orthography and punctuation, which often marred the beauties, and obscured the sentiment of the poet. Beside these faults, the volume contained several pieces which, it is ascertained, were not the productions of the muse of Brainard. Among these were the pieces entitled, "The Young Widow," "O well I love thee, native Land," "To the Moon, a Fragment," "Good Night," "The Girl I love," "To an antique Female Bust," and "To mine Old Plaid Cloak." All these pieces are from the pens of gentlemen better known in other walks than those of poesy; yet there is in them so much of poetic excellence, and of affinity with Brainard, that in their former association with his poetry they harmonized finely. They both gave and received beauty in their contact—a fact highly complimentary, both to our poet and to the authors of these now "rejected pieces;" the last of which, especially,

though by a different author, is characteristic not only of Brainard, but also of his Old Plaid Cloak."

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During the preparation of the present volume for the press, exertions made to discover any unpublished poetry of the author have availed but little; this is the less surprising, when it is considered that probably every occasional production of his found its way, almost immediately, into the columns of a newspaper. One or two pieces, however, with a few others from the files of the Mirror, are now first published in a collection of his poetry. The arrangement by the author of the first half of the poems—that published under his supervision, and ending with "The Two Comets,” is retained in the present edition, with the exception of two or three of the pieces above referred to, and the opening poem "On Connecticut River;" and those which follow "The Two Comets" appear, generally, in the order in which they were originally published in the Mirror. The poem addressed to Charity, was the last contribution of Brainard to the columns of that paper; and as it was intended for, and appeared as the "NewYear's Verses" for 1828, the author gave it the quaint title of "Thoughts of Mr. Eli Shepard, Carrier of the Connecticut Mirror, on Charity." The errors in the former edition, before adverted to, have been corrected in the present one; and every effort has been made to present to the reader a complete and correct edition of the poetry of Brainard, and in a dress appropriate and becoming to his muse. A new Memoir of the author, more extended and fuller than any which has preceded it, has been prepared expressly for this edition; and the portrait, although from an unfinished pencil sketch, by Wentworth, (the only one known to have been taken of Brainard,) with the facsimile of his writing, it is believed will be favorably appreciated and valued by those who were familiar with the poet, and by the admirers of his genius.

THE PUBLISHER.