Palgrave's Golden Treasury

The Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics is a popular anthology of English poetry, originally selected for publication by Francis Turner Palgrave in 1861. It was considerably revised, with input from Tennyson, about three decades later. Palgrave excluded all poems by poets then still alive.

Gilt bordered boards of the 1861 first edition of Palgrave's Golden Treasury.
Title page of the 1861 first edition. Frontispiece by Thomas Woolner.

The book continues to be published in regular new editions; still under Palgrave's name. These reproduce Palgrave's selections and notes, but usually include a supplement of more recent poems. Christopher Ricks in 1991 produced a scholarly edition of the original Treasury, along with an account of its evolution from 1861 to 1891, with inclusions and exclusions.

Book I (Palgrave)

William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling – Richard Barnefield – Thomas CampionSamuel Daniel – Thomas Dekker – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexJohn DonneMichael DraytonWilliam Drummond – W. Drummond of Hawthornden – Thomas HeywoodThomas Lodge – John Lylye – Christopher MarloweThomas NasheWilliam Shakespeare – Sir Philip SidneyEdmund Spenser – The Shepherd Tonie – Joshua Sylvester – John Webster – Sir Thomas Wyatt

Book II (Palgrave)

Francis BeaumontThomas CarewAbraham CowleyRichard CrashawJohn DrydenJohn FletcherWilliam HabingtonGeorge HerbertRobert HerrickBen JonsonRichard LovelaceAndrew MarvellJohn Milton – John Norris of Bemerton – Francis Quarles – Sir Charles Sedley – John Shirley – Sir John SucklingHenry VaughanEdmund Waller – John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester – George Wither – Sir Henry Wotton

Book III (Palgrave)

Anna Laetitia BarbauldWilliam BlakeRobert BurnsHenry CareyColley CibberJohn CollinsWilliam CollinsWilliam CowperJane ElliottJohn GayOliver Goldsmith – Robert Graham of Gartmore – Thomas Gray – Lady A. Lindsay – Joshua Logan – W. J. Mickle – Lady Nairn – Ambrose PhilipsAlexander PopeMatthew PriorSamuel RogersChristopher SmartJohn Thomson

Book IV (Palgrave)

Poems from William Wordsworth's Lucy series. The two titles have been added by Palgrave (see last image below).
More of Wordsworth's Lucy poems.
Left: page 188 of the Golden Treasury showing Keats's poem with title added by Palgrave; right: page 321 containing footnotes, the first of which acknowledges Palgrave's addition(s).

William BlakeLord ByronThomas CampbellHartley ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeAllan CunninghamThomas HoodJohn Keats – Charles Lamb – Mary Lamb – H. F. Lyte – Thomas MoorePercy Bysshe Shelley – Sir Walter Scott – Robert Southey – Charles Wolfe – William Wordsworth

Book V as selected by Laurence Binyon

This five-book version is republished as a Penguin Popular Classic

Matthew ArnoldWilliam Barnes – F. W. Bourdillon – Robert BridgesEmily BrontëRupert BrookeElizabeth Barrett BrowningRobert BrowningJohn ClareArthur Hugh Clough – Mary Coleridge – William Johnson CoryJohn DavidsonAustin Dobson – D. M. Dolben – George Darley – R. W. Dixon – Edward FitzGeraldJames Elroy FleckerThomas HardyThomas HoodGerard Manley HopkinsLionel JohnsonCharles KingsleyRudyard KiplingWalter Savage Landor – Hon. Emily Lawless – J. C. Mangan – John MasefieldGeorge MeredithWilliam Morris – Sir Henry NewboltAlice MeynellWilliam MorrisWilfred OwenCoventry PatmoreChristina Georgina RossettiDante Gabriel RossettiCharles SorleyRobert Louis StevensonAlgernon Charles SwinburneAlfred, Lord TennysonEdward ThomasFrancis Thompson – H. F. Trench – William Butler Yeats

Additional Poems, as selected by C. Day-Lewis (1954, Collins)

An important edition was edited by Cecil Day-Lewis, later Poet laureate. It contained 229 Additional Poems, with Books I-IV, including in this case a number of American poets.

William BlakeWalter Savage Landor – T. L. Peacock – John Clare – W. C. Bryant – George DarleyWilliam BarnesThomas Lovell BeddoesRalph Waldo EmersonElizabeth Barrett Browning – H. W. Longfellow – Edward FitzgeraldEdgar Allan Poe – Alfred Tennyson – Robert Browning – Aubrey de Vere – Emily Brontë – A. H. Clough – Charles KingsleyHerman MelvilleWalt WhitmanJean IngelowMatthew ArnoldWilliam CoryCoventry PatmoreWilliam Allingham – Sydney Dobell – George Meredith – D. G. Rossetti – Emily DickinsonChristina RossettiRichard Watson DixonWilliam Morris – Warren de Tabley – Algernon Charles SwinburneThomas HardyRobert BridgesGerard Manley HopkinsAndrew Lang – A. W. E. O’Shaughnessy – R. L. Stevenson – John DavidsonA. E. HousmanFrancis Thompson – Mary E. Coleridge – Rudyard KiplingW. B. YeatsErnest DowsonLionel JohnsonLaurence BinyonEdwin Arlington RobinsonHilaire Belloc – T. Sturge Moore – W. H. DaviesRalph HodgsonWalter de la MareG. K. ChestertonRobert FrostJohn MasefieldEdward ThomasHarold MonroPadraic ColumJames StephensJames Elroy FleckerD. H. LawrenceEzra PoundAndrew YoungSiegfried SassoonRupert BrookeEdwin MuirEdith SitwellT. S. EliotJohn Crowe Ransom – W. J. Turner – Dorothy Wellesley – V. Sackville-West – Wilfred OwenLilian Bowes LyonRobert GravesEdmund BlundenF. R. HigginsWilliam SoutarRoy Campbell – C. Day-Lewis – John BetjemanW. H. AudenLouis MacNeiceStephen SpenderGeorge BarkerLaurie LeeHenry ReedDylan ThomasAlun LewisDavid GascoyneSidney Keyes

OUP Edition (1994) in six books

Edited by John Press. The poets included were:

Dannie AbseFleur Adcock – William Alexander, Earl of Stirling – Kingsley AmisSimon ArmitageMatthew ArnoldW. H. Auden – Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam – Anna Laetitia BarbauldGeorge BarkerRichard BarnfieldFrancis BeaumontPatricia BeerJohn BetjemanLaurence BinyonThomas BlackburnEdmund BlundenEavan BolandRonald BottrallRobert BridgesGeorge Mackay BrownElizabeth Barrett BrowningRobert BrowningAlan BrownjohnRobert Burns – George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron – Norman CameronRoy CampbellThomas CampbellThomas CampionThomas CarewHenry CareyLewis CarrollCharles CausleyColley CibberJohn ClareAustin ClarkeJack ClemoArthur Hugh CloughHartley ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeJohn CollinsWilliam CollinsTony ConnorHenry ConstableDavid ConstantineAbraham CowleyWilliam CowperRichard CrashawRobert CrawfordAllan CunninghamSamuel DanielGeorge DarleyDonald DavieW. H. Davies – Dick Davis – Thomas DekkerWalter de la Mare – Lord De Tabley – Richard Watson DixonKeith DouglasErnest DowsonMichael DraytonWilliam DrummondJohn DrydenCarol Ann DuffyHelen DunmoreDouglas DunnLawrence DurrellThomas Stearns EliotAlistair ElliotJean ElliotWilliam EmpsonD. J. EnrightGavin EwartJames FentonRoy FisherEdward FitzGeraldJohn FletcherVeronica Forrest-ThomsonJohn FullerRoy FullerElizabeth GarrettDavid GascoyneJohn GayOliver Goldsmith – Robert Graham – Robert GravesThomas GrayThom GunnMichael HamburgerIan HamiltonThomas HardyTony HarrisonSeamus HeaneyJohn Heath-StubbsGeorge HerbertRobert HerrickThomas HeywoodGeoffrey HillRalph HodgsonDavid HolbrookMolly HoldenThomas HoodGerard Manley HopkinsA. E. HousmanTed HughesT. E. HulmeElizabeth JenningsLionel JohnsonBen JonsonPatrick KavanaghJohn KeatsSidney KeyesThomas KinsellaRudyard KiplingJames KirkupCharles LambWalter Savage LandorPhilip LarkinD. H. LawrenceEdward LearLaurie LeeAlun LewisCecil Day-Lewis – Lady Anne Lindsay – Thomas LodgeJohn LoganMichael LongleyRichard LovelaceEdward LowburyJohn LylyGeorge MacBethNorman MacCaigHugh MacDiarmidLouis MacNeiceDerek MahonChristopher MarloweAndrew MarvellJohn MasefieldGeorge MeredithWilliam Julius MickleJohn MiltonThomas MooreWilliam MorrisAndrew MotionEdwin MuirPaul Muldoon – Carolina, Lady Nairne – Thomas NashRobert NicholsNorman NicholsonBernard O'DonoghueWilfred OwenCoventry PatmoreTom PaulinAmbrose PhilipsAlexander PopePeter PorterJonathan PriceF. T. PrinceMatthew PriorCraig RainePeter RedgroveHenry ReedAnne RidlerMichael RiviereW. R. RodgersSamuel RogersIsaac RosenbergAlan RossChristina Georgina RossettiDante Gabriel RossettiCarol RumensLawrence SailSiegfried SassoonVernon Scannell – Sir Walter Scott – Peter ScuphamSir Charles Sedley – George Sewell – William ShakespearePercy Bysshe ShelleyJames Shirley – Sir Philip Sidney – Jon SilkinC. H. SissonEdith SitwellIain Crichton SmithStevie SmithRobert SoutheyBernard SpencerStephen SpenderEdmund SpenserJon StallworthyAnne StevensonSir John SucklingAlgernon Charles Swinburne – Joshua Sylvester – Alfred, Lord TennysonDylan ThomasEdward ThomasR. S. ThomasFrancis Thompson – James Thomson (The Seasons) – James Thomson (B.V.) – Anthony ThwaiteTerence TillerCharles Tomlinson – The Shepherd Tony – Henry Vaughan – Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford – John WainTed WalkerEdmund WallerVernon WatkinsJohn WebsterRobert WellsLawrence WhistlerHugo WilliamsGeorge WitherCharles WolfeWilliam Wordsworth – Sir Henry Wotton – David WrightKit Wright – Sir Thomas Wyat – William Butler Yeats – Andrew Young

Editions online

Further reading

Martin Spevack, The Golden Treasury: 150 Years On, eBLJ 2012, Article 2, British Library.

  • The Golden Treasury - facsimile reproduction of the 1861 edition, with a foreword by Carol Ann Duffy.
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