THE BRIDGE OF THE HUNDRED SPANS
NELL LATORE




INTRODUCTION

I had not intended that Embers should ever be given to the public, but
friends whose judgment I respect have urged me to include it in the
subscription edition at least, and with real reluctance I have consented.
It was a pleasure to me to have one piece of work of mine which made no
bid for pence or praise; but if that is a kind of selfishness, perhaps
unnecessary, since no one may wish to read the verses, I will now free
myself from any chance of reproach. This much I will say to soothe away
my own compunctions, that the book will only make the bid for popularity
or consideration with near a score of others, and not separately, and
that my responsibility is thus modified. The preface to Embers says all
that need be said about a collection which is, on the whole, merely a
book of youth and memory and impressionism in verse. At least it was all
spontaneous; it was not made to order on any page of it, and it is the
handful left from very many handfuls destroyed. Since the first edition
(intended only for my personal friends) was published I have written
"Rosleen," "Where Shall We Betake Us?" "Granada," "Mary Callaghan and
Me," "The Crowning" (on the Coronation of King Edward VII), the fragment
"Kildare" and "I Heard the Desert Calling"; and I have also included
others like "The Tall Dakoon" and "The Red Patrol," written over twenty
years ago. "Mary Callaghan and Me" has been set to music by Mr. Max
Muller, and has made many friends, and "The Crowning" was the Coronation
ode of 'The People', which gave a prize, too ample I think, for the best