For his contemporaries the strong popular appeal of Alfred Noyes's poems lay in their lyrical and technical aspects--the heartiness of the songs, the heavy beat of the ballads, and the variety of metrical forms which he used with grace and apparent ease. The vitality of rhythm and rhyme in songs often marked by sonorous lines and memorable refrains made them especially popular for oral presentation. His appeal lay also in the optimistic view of the world which prevails in most of his work. He lent persuasive rhetoric in poetry and prose to support patriotism, heroism in war, and pursuit of international peace, and his poems reflect his faith in God, his belief in and appreciation of the harmony of nature, and his admiration for the explorers of the world of science. Noyes wrote poetry on less weighty subjects than these--for example, the satisfaction achieved through gardens and the...