Arthur Stanley’s anthology runs from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to 1901, beginning with Peele, Drayton and Shakespeare and moving through war songs, Jacobite airs, Irish national songs and Welsh hymns of liberty. He chose the word patriotic broadly, so verse about love of home sits beside battle pieces, and the outlook throughout is that of a confident imperial age.
A rich source for the poetry of British national feeling, read today with its Edwardian imperial assumptions in view. Download the free EPUB.