SOURCE: "From the Author's Preface to the Editions of 1832," in The Political Works of Leigh Hunt, edited by H. S. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1923, pp. xvii-xxxi.

In the following excerpt from his preface to the first collected edition of his poems, Hunt introduces his work by explaining his philosophy of poetry.

I intended to write a very short preface to the volume here submitted to the public indulgence; but finding the small number of pages to which it amounted, compared with the price put upon it in the advertisement, I wished to do what I could towards bringing it to a becoming size. To add verses which I had rejected, would have been an injustice both to the readers and myself. It was suggested to me that a 'good gossiping preface' would not be ill received; and I therefore write one in the true spirit of that word...