| The
arrangement of the Prose and Verse in this collection
makes a foreword almost unnecessary. No further
explanation will make clearer the reasons for
the main divisions. The intention of the whole
was to bring together later work in prose and
verse, prose which had become accessible, and
early stories and poems which had not previously
appeared in book form. The title for the collection,
borrowed from the opening story, seemed to the
writer appropriate, for throughout the book a
circle of affection is gradually rounded: an affection
for persons and places, for his own country and
other countries, an affection for moods, for passions
and aspirations. The first story begins with the
most important of human virtues and the last ends
with a mystical significance that brings the circle
to completion. If this idea is imaginary, a possession
of the writer alone, it will not detract from
what is, in itself, a good title and therefore
needs no defence. |
