Publisher's Synopsis
There have been three different editions of Francis Ledwidge's poems titled The Complete Poems. None is complete. This selection, Poems, the first book of Ledwidge's poems published in County Meath, is based largely on the first of them published by Herbert Jenkins Ltd (London) in 1919 with introductions by Lord Dunsany and comprising Songs of the Fields (the one collection the author saw in his lifetime), Songs of Peace (the collection being printed at the time of his death) and Last Songs (a selection assembled by Dunsany, the author's mentor and patron). To those three sections I have added 'Other Poems', a selection drawing in the main on Alice Curtayne's pioneering scholarship and including work generously provided by Joe Doyle from the archives of Dunsany Castle. - Peter Fallon, Ed.
