This is a marvelous collection of story poems, which editor Louis B. Untermeyer has grouped under numerous helpful headings covering love, adventure, courage, horror, and inspiration, among others. 
 Among my favorites are "An Old Time Sea Fight" by Walt Whitman - about the battle between the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard and H.M.S. Serapis, in which Captain John Paul Jones, always referred to by Whitman's narrator as 'my little captain', won the first major victory for the fledgling American Navy. 
 I also enjoy reading "John Gilpin's Ride" which begs to be shared aloud to a younger audience who will whoop with delight at its cadence and laugh-out-loud incidents; as John Gilpin rides from London to his friend's country house and back, in a frenzied dash on an out-of-control steed.