Golden Numbers

Seasonal changes, birds, flowers and family life give this anthology many of its organizing themes. Chosen and classified by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith for young readers, Golden Numbers brings together English and American poetry in sections such as A Chanted Calendar, Green Things Growing and Fairy Songs and Songs of Fancy. Shakespeare, Keats, Emily Dickinson and Robert Louis Stevenson are among the writers represented. Wiggin supplies the introduction and interleaves.

The selection also turns toward public life and the demands of courage. The poems include George Henry Boker's tribute to Black soldiers, Henry Howard Brownell's account of a ship's crew preparing for action, and Julia Ward Howe's Battle-Hymn of the Republic. This range makes the collection useful for readers exploring how poems move between close observation of nature, imagined scenes and shared historical concerns. Its thematic arrangement offers several starting points for reading poetry across different authors.