Douglas Lochhead - Böcker

This volume established Isabella Valancy Crawford as one of Canada's principal poets. Coupled with an introductory collage of viewpoints and reactions to her work by James Reaney its provides a vivid glimpse into the literary past of this country.Although her poetry reflects the patterns of her time, Isabella Valancy Crawford was able to accept the raw and vigorous Canadian landscape on its own terms. She was the first of our poets for whom it became the setting for struggle, passion, love, and death. She celebrated the young land with an imagery enriched by allusions to North American Indian lore reflected in such lines as these:From his far wigwam sprang the strong North Wind And rushed with war-cry down the steep ravine,And wrestled with the giants of the woods;And with his ice-club beat the swelling crestsOf the deep water courses into death.'These verses bear the stamp of genius and show a true poetic instinct,' said a critic in The Canadian Magazine in 1895. The poetry of Isabella Valancy Crawford forms a vital part of the body of Canadian writing.

These three works, displaying marked differences in purpose, tone, and effect, are all classics of Canadian literary and cultural criticism.John George Bourinot was a man of letters, an Imperialist, and a biculturalist, who was confident of his knowledge of the Canadian identity and felt it to be his public mission to align reality with his own personal vision. Writing in 1893 to the Élite represented by the members of the Royal Society, he described his work as ‘a monograph on the intellectual development of the Dominion,’ describing ‘the progress of culture in a country still struggling with the difficulties of the material development of half a continent.’Two decades later, Thomas Guthrie Marquis and Camille Roy wrote what were, in contrast, specialized assignments, contributions to the compendium history, Canada and Its Provinces (1913). Addressing a far larger audience, and treating a vastly enlarged body of Canadian literature, their work comes much closer to contemporary scholarship, with greater clarity, organization, and sheer bulk of information, but with the loss of some of the charm and assurance of Bourinot’s wide sweep. In further contrast to Bourinot’s determined biculturalism and will to unity, Roy and Marquis’ essays display vivid differences in the emotional allegiances and convictions of the founding cultures. Marquis starts by asking the question, ‘Has Canada a voice of her own in literature distinct from that of England?’; Roy treats French-Canadian literature in its Roman Catholic contexts.

Selections from Canadian Poets set an important precedent when it was published in 1864. It was the first anthology of native Canadian poetry and was compiled, as Edward Hartlet Dewart explained, in order to 'rescue from oblivion some of the floating pieces of Canadian authorship worthy of preservation in a more permanent form ...' This anthology, like any other, reflects the tastes of the anthologist and the tenor of the times. Pre-confederation poets had deeply felt ties with other countries from which developed a shared concern for what Douglas Lochhead terms in his introduction the 'now' and the 'place,' often described in terms of the 'past' and the 'other place,' which embraced a still larger loyalty – religious, political, philosophical, and above all nationalistic. Dewart was widely commended by critics of his attention for its endeavour to come to grips with the influences of other literatures (mainly English) and for its realization that so-called 'colonialism' was a major shaping force of Canadian poetry. On the first page of his essay Dewart states that:A national literature is an essential element in the formation of national character. These words, as well as his perceptive appraisal of the problems of Canadian literary endeavours, still apply today and make this reprint timely and pertinent.

Robert Barr has been almost completely overlooked by critics and anthologists of Canadian literature, in part because, although he was educated in Canada, he spent most of his life in the United States and England. However, since most of his serious novels are either set in Canada or have some Canadian connection, Barr deserves attention. The Measure of the Rule, originally published in 1907, is the nearest he came to writing an autobiographical novel. It concerns the Toronto Normal School and the experiences there in the 1870s of a young man who undoubtedly is Barr himself. In this novel, Barr is exorcising unhappy memories and is ironic, even bitter, about the school’s quality of education, the rigid discipline observed by its staff and their indifference to their students, and the sexual segregation practiced. A number of men under whom Barr actually studied are vividly caricatured. As a realistic study of Ontario's only central teacher-training institution in the late nineteenth century, The Measure of the Rule will appeal both to those interested in Canadian fiction of that period and to those more concerned with the evolution of the system of education established by Egerton Ryerson. Also included with this reprint of the novel is an essay originally published in 1899 and entitled 'Literature in Canada.' In this essay, Barr elaborated upon his opinions of the school system and its quality of education.

Raymond Knister had a strong sense of commitment both to his own career and to literature, particularly Canadian literature. In his ten working years he proved himself a prolific writer with wide-ranging interests.Although his work has appeared in many anthologies of Canadian literature, there remains a great deal of out of print or unpublished material.This volume brings together not only for his more well-known stories but also all his unpublished stories, a few travel pieces, and several examples of his literary criticism. Knister's stories are often strongly regional, and draw on rural Ontario for their setting and characters. Collected together here for the first time is a group of sketches dealing anecdotally with life in a village in southwestern Ontario. Also included are two stories arising from his experiences as a cab driver in Chicago in the 1920s, 'Innocent Man,' and 'Hackman's Night.' His essays focusing on literary matters and the traditions and problems of Canadian literature show a keenly critical mind.The First Day of Spring is an important rediscovery of one of Canada's best writers of the 1920s.

Alexander McLachlan in an eminent though neglected figure in early Canadian literature, and this reprint brings to the attention of Canadians today his representative work. Edward Hartley Dewart, editor of the original edition published in1900, recognized the importance of McLachlan’s poetry as an integral part of Canada’s cultural development. In his estimation McLachlan ranked second only to Charles Sangster.McLachlan, a Scot, emigrated to Canada West in 1840; his poetry reflects graphically the griefs and loneliness of pioneer struggles in an alien land. He was frequently called ‘the Burns of Canada,’ and his style and emphasis on the democratic theme of brotherhood certainly reveal the influence of the Scottish poet. In lifestyle, however, McLachlan was more consciously Carlylean, assuming the role of ‘man of letters’ in an effort to elevate the whole tone of man’s thinking and to raise the cultural level of Canada. He was highly regarded – in its obituary notice the Guelph Evening Mercury discerned him ‘a true streak of poetic fire.’ Many of McLachlan’s early poems have nostalgic echoes of Scottish songs. In later years he responded fully to the bracing beauties of the Canadian landscape and to the social and political challenges of the ‘New Dominion.’ The Scottish dialect gave way to a Canadian backwoods one, which proved effective in humorously satirizing the pretensions of the growing society.

The White Savannahs, originally published in 1936, is the first study of Canadian poetry from a modern point of view. It contains essays on Archibald Lampman, Marjorie Pickthall, E.J. Pratt, Leo Kennedy, A.M. Klein, A.J.M. Smith, F.R. Scott, Marie Le Franc, and Dorothy Livesay. The contributions are based on a series of analytical essays originally published in the Canadian Forum and in the University of Toronto Quarterly. Professor Collin's work added much to the establishment of a new climate of opinion among readers and publishers of poetry in Canada.

Saul and Selected Poems is an original and useful introduction to the work and poetic personality of Charles Heavysege (1816-76), an important but currently neglected nineteenth-century Canadian writer. Heavysege was handicapped by a limited education and a lack of public support, yet nonetheless established himself in Great Britain and America as the 'leading intellect of [the] Dominion' in a period when native literature was scantily regarded. His struggle to express himself and to find an audience for his work mirrors the dilemma of the émigré writer of his time.Heavysege's work is related in this volume to the early nineteenth-century English revival of poetic drama, and seen in the context of the Canadian cultural milieu of the 1860s. Saul is a powerful presentation of the tormented soul caught in a world of order and universal degree. Its main interest is to be found in the psychological frankness - Saul's recognition of his demon resonates with the deeper implication of the recognition of the döppelgänger - and in passages of sinewy verse written with a directness that anticipates E.J. Pratt.The text of Saul and 'Jezebel,' selections from Jephthah's Daughter, an original commentary on the major poems, a bibliography, and a review of Heavysege criticism are all included in this volume. (Literature of Canada 19)

When New Provinces first appeared in 1936, it represented four years of planning, argument, and compromise, and an additional two and a half years of correspondence and editorial preparation. This prolonged effort was brought to a successful end with the publication of a slim collection of verse, the work of six writers, Robert Finch, Leo Kennedy, A.M. Klein, E.J. Pratt, F.R. Scott, and A.J.M. Smith.At the time it was published it received little critical attention and had even less popular appeal; after nearly a year the book had sold only 82 copies, 10 of them to one of the contributors. Only E.K. Brown, writing for University of Toronto Quarterly in 1937, seemed to realize that New Provinces 'marked the emergence ... of a group of poets who may well have a vivifying effect on Canadian poetry.'Since that time this small volume has been recognized as a monument in Canadian literature, a singular event in a literary process which stemmed from the origins of Canadian modernism and its beginnings in Montreal, marking the first collective effort to introduce poets who came to represent the new establishment. Michael Gnarowski's introduction tells the fascinating story of the genesis of the idea for the book and the difficulties that were encountered.

The original At the Mermaid Inn, one of the most notable literary endeavours in Canada, was the result of the combined efforts of three poets: Wilfred Campbell (1858-1918), Archibald Lampman (1861-99), and Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947).A Saturday column that ran in the Toronto Globe from 6 February 1892 until 1 July 1893, it covered a wide range of material – original poetry and prose, book and music reviews, articles on philosophy, politics, poetics, religion, and writings on a myriad of other matters. Critics have often referred to the column in general terms, but until now it has been unavailable in book form for detailed study. This careful transcription of the entire series offers a fresh perspective on three of the most important Canadian literary figures of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Here are three major Canadian poets as prose writers. Lampman writes essays about nature and poetry; Campbell provides controversial views on many subjects, especially religion and poetry; Scott writes book reviews and scholarly essays on music and a variety of Canadian matters. At the Mermaid Inn gives a fascinating glimpse into the literary and social concerns of the day. This volume beings to new light one of the most readable and vital documents in Canadian life and literature.

This new volume of the Literary History of Canada covers the continuing development of English-Canadian writing from 1972 to 1984. As with the three earlier volumes, this book is an invaluable guide to recent developments in English-Canadian literature and a resource for both the general reader and the specialist researcher. The contributors to this volume are Laurie Ricou, David Jackel, Linda Hutcheon, Philip Stratford, Barry Cameron, Balachandra Rajan, Robert Fothergill, Brian Parker, Cynthia Zimmerman, Frances Frazer, Edith Fowke, Bruce G. Trigger, Alan C. Cairns, Douglas Williams, Carl Berger, Shirley Neuman, Raymond S. Corteen, and Francess G. Halpenny.

Tiger in the Skull makes available for the first time in a single volume the range, substance, and variety of Lochhead's work.

Homage to Henri Alline and Other Poems marks a new stage in the long career of this renowned poet. The book consists of two long poems flanking a collection of related short poems. At once austere and rich, this book is a vintage offering from a poet at the height of his powers.

High Marsh Road, a finalist for the 1980 Governor General's Award and a beautiful example of bookmaking, is now back in print. High Marsh Road is a signficant step in the century-long artistic tradition of the Tantramar region, begun by Charles G.D. Roberts and continued by Alex Colville, John Thompson, and Lochhead himself.The book consists of 122 poems marking daily walks over the windblown marsh. Along with minute particulars of the marsh itself, its weather, and its birds and animals, High Marsh Road is an intimate account of a man's exploration of nature and the self.

Douglas Lochhead is one of Canada's finest poets. In celebration of his eightieth birthday, Goose Lane Editions is releasing Weathers: Poems New and Selected, a collection of the best of Lochhead's work from the last fifteen years.Douglas Lochhead's poetic imagination receives its greatest stimulus from what his senses tell him about nature and other people, and his poetry overflows with energy. Sharp observation of detail anchors his passionate sense of place; subtle irony and masterful form barely contain his uncompromising honesty and strong emotions; and his command of the poet's craft guides his attacks on the boundaries of meaning. The contrast he achieves between tightly controlled form and constantly moving, dynamic imagery yields the clean, precise poetry that his readers have valued so highly over his more than 50-year career.Lochhead began his career in the 1940s, publishing his poems in literary journals. His first book, The Heart is on Fire was published in 1959, and in the next two decades he published eight more books of poetry. In 1980, his landmark collection High Marsh Road was nominated for a Governor General's Award. In 1986, Goose Lane Editions published Tiger in the Skull: New and Selected Poems, 1959-1986, Since that time, Douglas Lochhead has published four major collections: Upper Cape Poems, a testament to his fascination with the Tantramar Marsh; Homage to Henry Alline, a tribute to an 18th-century evangelist; Breakfast at Mel's, superbly crafted poems about the magic of place, and the rewards of observation; and Cape Enragé, poems written on the wild shore of the Bay of Fundy.In the award-winning art book Dykelands, his austere nature poems accompany Thaddeus Holownia's large-format photographs. He has also published All Things Do Continue, Yes, Yes, Yes!, and Black Festival, a beautiful memorial to his wife.For Weathers, Douglas Lochhead has collaborated with editor David Creelman, who teaches Atlantic literature at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John. Together, they have gathered the strongest works from Lochhead's books, new poems published in literary journals, and previously unpublished poems to create the quintessential collection of Lochhead's writing.

After experiencing life in London, the narrator and her brother discover that they are Canadians, not colonials. Their encounters with Englishmen and Americans demonstrate that there are three distinct countries, each with a character of its own, but sharing common interests. This is an early novel on the eternal theme of identity.

A.J.M. Smith has described George Frederick Cameron as one of 'Canada's greatest poets,' who, with Isabella Valancy Crawford and Archibald Lampman, 'were cut off just when their work had reached maturity.' Cameron's poetry is rich in classical culture, and involves itself with political concerns, love and death.

Although not one of De Mille's best works it does show his unerring assessment of the tastes of the American and Canadian reading public in the 1870s. With echoes of Wilkie Collins, Jules Verne, and other popular novelists of the period, this is a sensational melodrama full of impossible adventures, and of  'angelic heroines and villains of the deepest dye.'

Alexander Macrorie, the narrator, blithely announces the subject of the novel in the first brief paragraph: 'This is a story of Quebec. Quebec is a wonderful city.' In fact, it is the story of the love trials and tribulations of a young bachelor subaltern and his fellow officers of the 129th Bobtails quartered in Quebec City.

'This book has a twofold meaning,' writes the author, '— that of  a political novel, and that of the portrayal of a great love and a  religious drama.' One of the most interesting Canadian novels of the period 1880 to 1920, it depicts conditions in Canada during an era when the country was in a state of transition,' that is, prior to the last election during John A. Macdonald's administration.

This satirical and witty first novel is a high-spirited account of the 1866 Fenian 'invasion' of Canada near Ridgeway. Adding spice to the novel are the romances of the two leading men, a Toronto professor and an American reporter, who become involved with farmer's daughters.

Dealing in part with the people involved in the Red River Rebellion of 1869-70, the novel is based on Begg's own experiences in the Red River Settlement and describes the realities of pioneer life. 'Dot It Down' was the nickname of Charles Mair, poet and member of the Canada First Movement.

This is a Canadian temperance novel which traces a man's downfall, degradation, and eventual victory over alcohol. A reproduction of the painting 'Guilty' by Stuart Taggart is used as a frontispiece.

This light romance portrays in considerable detail the social life of Ottawa in the post-Confederation years. The gossip of the capital and the prevailing social customs strengthen the story of Honor Edgeworth's courtship. It is a novel of manners with a happy ending.

Of this novel of Canadian business life and village and city social conditions in the early twentieth century, the author explains that his object is 'to enlighten the public concerning life behind the wicket and thus pave the way for the legitimate organization of bankclerks into a fraternal association, for their financial and social (including moral) betterment.'

Aside from Sam Slick, the book which gained Haliburton the greatest notoriety was The Letter Bag of The Great Western; or, Life in a Steamer, published in 1840. Much of this book was composed for the diversion of the other passengers on Haliburton’s steamship voyage from Bristol to New York in 1839.The book’s ostensible function was the advertisement of the advantages of travel by steamship, but few, after reading the passengers’ accounts of their voyage, would, if they took them seriously, ever venture off shore. The book’s principal sources of amusement – infirmities of the human body (seasickness), the peculiarities of spelling and grammar that arise from faulty or defective education, the cultural mores of other races and lower classes, and the outrageous punning.