The need here is to look at an old subject with fresh eyes. Teachers who
are fond of music or painting or sculpture can invent many illustrations
following the hint given in the Orpheus and Eurydice passage in the text.
Among recent books, Fairchild's _Making of Poetry_ and Max Eastman's
_Enjoyment of Poetry_ are particularly to be commended for their
unconventional point of view. See also Fairchild's pamphlet on _Teaching
of Poetry in the High School_, and John Erskine's paper on "The Teaching
of Poetry" (_Columbia University Quarterly_, December, 1915). Alfred
Hayes's "Relation of Music to Poetry" (_Atlantic_, January, 1914) is
pertinent to this chapter. But the student should certainly familiarize
himself with Theodore Watts-Dunton's famous article on "Poetry" in
the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, now reprinted with additions in his
_Renascence of Wonder_. He should also read A. C. Bradley's chapter on
"Poetry for its Own Sake" in the _Oxford Lectures on Poetry_, Neilson's
_Essentials of Poetry_, Stedman's _Nature and Elements of Poetry_, as well
as the classic "Defences" of Poetry by Philip Sidney, Shelley, Leigh Hunt
and George E. Woodberry. For advanced students, R. P. Cowl's _Theory of
Poetry in England_ is a useful summary of critical opinions covering
almost every aspect of the art of poetry, as it has been understood by
successive generations of Englishmen.