Though the fame of Henry Kingsley (1830–1876) is eclipsed by that of
his elder brother, Charles, many critics have been bold enough to
predict that the time will come when the English-speaking world will
recognize the younger of these brothers as the greater writer. Henry
Kingsley, leaving Oxford without taking a degree, went to Australia
when he was twenty-three years old, and it was not until his return to
England, five years later, that he addressed himself to novel-writing.
His most popular books were “Geoffrey Hamlin” and “Ravenshoe.” He
wrote few poems, and of these “The Blackbird’s Song,” which is here
reprinted for the readers of THE SCRAP BOOK, probably is the best
known. It has the real lilt of the English blackbird, and this,
together with its quaint diction, gives to it a peculiar quality that
causes it to linger in the mind long after the book containing the
poem has been laid aside.