Author's note: To the Reader. In the preface to the second edition of my Australian Lyrics I wrote:- 'Two of my books, Australian Lyrics and A Poetry of Exiles, requiring second editions at the same time, I have taken the opportunity of redistributing their contents, thinking that to group according to subject would be a more satisfactory arrangement than to adhere slavishly to the previous order of publication.'
The first edition of Australian Lyrics consisted mainly of lays of Australian incident, love-lays, and lays of exile. The last, for obvious reasons, have been transferred to A Poetry of Exiles. The others, with the pieces germane to them in the first edition of A Poetry of Exiles, constitute the second edition of Australian Lyrics.
The last paragraph in that preface applies equally to this volume. 'In re-editing I have made copious eliminations and many hundreds of emendations. Not a few of the pieces have been almost re-written, as the reader will find who compares this with the previous edition.'
I have had to divide A Poetry of Exiles into two volumes, because the one-volume first edition proved too closely printed to be agreeable to the eye.
There are three entirely new pieces in this volume.
