[Footnote 40: Page 20.--Dr. Louis Fréchette's poems are admitted to
be the most finished illustrations of French poetic art yet produced
in the Dominion; and one who reads them can easily understand that
"Les Fleurs Boréales" and "Les Oiseaux de Neige" (now in the third
edition, Montreal) should have been crowned by the French Academy in
1880, and that he should have been accorded the Monthyon prize as a
matter of course. His other volumes of poems are these: "Mes Loisirs,"
Quebec, 1863; "La Voix d'un Exilé," Quebec, 1869; "Pêle-Mêle,"
Montreal, 1877; "Les Oubliés" and "Voix d'Outre-Mer," Montreal, 1886;
and "Feuilles Volantes," Montreal, 1891. His poem on the discovery of
the Mississippi is probably his best sustained effort on the whole. A
number of his poems have appeared in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vols.
i., ii., iii., iv. He has published some dramas and comedies (see 'Am.
Cyclopædia of Biography,' vol. ii., p. 539), which have not been as
successful as his purely poetic essays. He has also written several
essays of merit in 'Harper's Monthly' and other periodicals of the day,
as well as in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.'
The following is an extract from his poem on "La Découverte du
Mississippi":
"Tantôt je croyais voir, sous les vertes arcades,
Du fatal De Soto passer les cavalcades
En jetant au désert un défi solennel;
Tantôt c'était Marquette errant dans la prairie,
Impatient d'offrir un monde à sa patrie,
Et des âmes à l'Eternel.
"Parfois, sous les taillis, ma prunelle trompée,
Croyait voir de La Salle étinceler l'épée,
Et parfois, groupe informe allant je ne sais où,
Devant une humble croix--ô puissance magique!--
De farouches guerriers á l'œil sombre et tragique
Passer en pliant le genou!
"Et puis, berçant mon âme aux rêves des poètes,
J'entrevoyais aussi de blanches silhouettes,
Doux fantômes flottant dans le vague des nuits:
Atala, Gabriel, Chactas, Evangeline,
Et l'ombre de René, debout sur la colline,
Pleurant ses immortels ennuis.
"Et j'endormais ainsi mes souvenirs moroses....
Mais de ces visions poétiques et roses
Celle qui plus souvent venait frapper mon œil,
C'était, passant au loin dans un reflet de gloire,
Ce hardi pionnier dont notre jeune histoire
Redit le nom avec orgueil.
"Jolliet! Jolliet! deux siècles de conquêtes,
Deux siècles sans rivaux ont passé sur nos têtes,
Depuis l'heure sublime où, de ta propre main,
Tu jetas d'un seul trait sur la carte du monde
Ces vastes régions, zone immense et féconde,
Futur grenier du genre humain!
"Oui, deux siècles ont fui! La solitude vierge
N'est plus là! Du progrès le flot montant submerge
Les vestiges derniers d'un passé qui finit.
Où le désert dormait, grandit la métropole;
Et le fleuve asservi courbe sa large épaule
Sous l'arche aux piles de granit.
"Plus de forêts sans fin: la vapeur les silonne!
L'astre des jours nouveaux sur tous les points rayonne;
L'enfant de la nature est évangélisé;
Le soc du laboureur fertilise la plaine;
Et le surplus doré de sa gerbe trop pleine
Nourrit le vieux monde épuisé."
Mr. Pamphile LeMay, one of the best known French Canadian poets,
has published the following: "Essais Poétiques," Quebec, 1865; "La
Découverte du Canada," Quebec, 1867; "Poèmes Couronnés," Quebec, 1870;
"Les Vengeances," Quebec, 1875, 1876 and 1888 (also dramatized); "Une
Gerbe," Quebec, 1879. He has also written "Fables Canadiennes," Quebec,
1882. A number of his poems have appeared in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc.
Can.,' vols i., iii., v., vi., ix. He has also written several stories
of Canadian life: "L'Affaire Sougraine," Quebec, 1884; "Le Pèlerin de
Sainte-Anne," new ed., Montreal, 1893; and "Rouge et Bleu," comedy. One
of his best works was a translation of Longfellow's "Evangeline."
The following is a list of other Canadian books of poems, of varying
merit, which have appeared within a quarter of a century:
"The Songs of a Wanderer." By Carroll Ryan. Ottawa, 1867. Indicated
much poetic taste, but the poet has been submerged in the busy
journalist.
"Songs of Life." By Rev. E. H. Dewart. Toronto, 1867. He was author
of the first collection of Canadian poems made in this country. See
_infra_.
"The Prophecy of Merlin and other Poems." By John Reade. Montreal,
1870. In many respects the best sustained poems written by a Canadian
can be read in this book.
"Les Laurentiennes." By Benjamin Sulte. Montreal, 1870.
"Les Chants Nouveaux." By the same. Ottawa, 1880.
"The Legend of the Rose." By Samuel J. Watson. Toronto, 1876. Mr.
Watson was a writer of promise who died in the maturity of his power.
"The Feast of St. Anne, and other Poems." By P. S. Hamilton. Montreal,
1878; 2nd ed. 1890. Has some interest from its description of the
ceremonies at the feast of Sainte-Anne du Canada--the tutelary saint of
the Canadian aborigines--which is held by the Micmacs on the 26th day
of July in each year on Chapel Island, in the beautiful Bras d'Or Lake
of Cape Breton. See Bourinot's "Cape Breton."
"Waifs in Verse." (Ottawa, ed. in 1878, 1887 and 1891.) By G. W.
Wicksteed, Q.C., for fifty years the able law clerk of the Canadian
Commons.
"A Collection of Poems." By Miss Williams of Grenville, P.Q., 1879.
"The Coming of the Princess, and Other Poems." By Kate Seymour Maclean
of Kingston. 1880.
"Lyrics, Songs and Sonnets." By A. H. Chandler and C. Pelham Mulvany.
Toronto, 1880.
"The Times, and Other Poems." By J. R. Newell of Woodstock. 1880.
"The Consolation." By George Gerrard. Montreal, 1880.
"Poems of the Heart and Home." By Mrs. J. C. Yule. Toronto, 1880.
"Poems, Songs and Odes." By Archibald McAlpine Taylor. Toronto, 1881.
"The New Song, and Other Poems." By Mrs. W. H. Clarke. Toronto, 1883.
"Zenobia. A Poem in Rhymed Heroics." By Rev. Æ. McD. Dawson, F.R.S.C.
1883.
"The Mission of Love, and Other Poems." By Caris Sima. 1883.
"Lorenzo, and Other Poems." By J. R. Pollock of Keswick, Ont. 1883.
"Caprices Poétiques et Chansons Satiriques." Par Rémi Tremblay.
Montréal, 1883.
"Les Echos." Par J. B. Routhier. Québec, 1883, 12mo. Judge Routhier is
a member of the Royal Society of Canada, in whose 'Trans.' (vol. iv.,
Sec. I.) appeared "Lettre d'un Volontaire du 9^{ieme} Voltigeurs campé
à Calgary." His literary reputation stands high among his countrymen.
"Old Spookse's Pass, and Other Poems." By Isabella Valancy Crawford.
Toronto, 1884.
"Marguerite, and Other Poems." By George Martin. 1886.
"Laura Secord: a Ballad of 1812." By Mrs. Curzon. Toronto, 1886.
"Songs, Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems." By J. Imrie. Toronto, 1886.
"Dreamland, and Other Poems" (Ottawa, 1868), and "Tecumseh: a Drama"
(Toronto and London, 1886). By Charles Mair, a poet of original
talent, and descriptive power, who is now a resident of the North-west
Territories.
"Orion, and Other Poems" (Philadelphia, 1880), and "In Divers Tones"
(Montreal, 1887). By Prof. C. G. D. Roberts, who is the best known
abroad of all Canadian poets, and represents that Canadian or national
spirit which has been slowly rising from the birth of Confederation.
Since the days of Crémazie--over thirty years ago--there are other
poets who recognize the existence of a Canadian people in a large
sense--a Canadian people of two races, born and educated in the
country, and having common aspirations for a united, not an isolated,
future. Prof. Roberts is now bringing out a new volume of poems in
London.
The poetic taste of the Archbishop of Halifax, the Most Rev. C.
O'Brien, F.R.S.C., is well illustrated in the following volume:
"Aminta: a Modern Life Drama," New York, 1890. The Archbishop is
also the author of a novel, "After Weary Years," (Baltimore and New
York, 1885), the scenes of which are laid in Rome and Canada, and are
described with much power of invention and fervour. As the author
himself says, "historic places and events are accurately described." He
has, it will be seen from his preface, great confidence in the future
national greatness of the Dominion.
"A Gate of Flowers." By T. O'Hagan. Toronto, 1887. He has another
volume in press.
"The Masque of Minstrels, and Other Pieces, chiefly in verse." By B.
W. and A. J. Lockhart. Bangor, Me., 1887. These two brothers are Nova
Scotians by birth and education, who lived their youth in the land of
Evangeline. The Gaspéreaux and Grand Pré are naturally the constant
theme of their pleasing verse. "Among the Millet, and Other Poems." By
Archibald Lampman. Ottawa, 1888. Some of Mr. Lampman's most finished
sonnets have appeared in the best American periodicals, to which he is
still a frequent contributor; his work shows the true poetic instinct.
He holds a position in the Civil Service at Ottawa.
"The Water Lily. An Oriental Fairy Tale." By Frank Waters. Ottawa, 1888.
"De Roberval: a Drama. Also the Emigration of the Fairies, and the
Triumph of Constancy: a Romaunt." By John Hunter Duvar. St. John, N.B.,
1888. Mr. Duvar, who has fine literary tastes, has been a resident of
Prince Edward Island for some years.
"The Epic of the Dawn, and Other Poems." By Nicholas Flood Davin.
Regina, N.W.T., 1889. Mr. Davin is the clever "Irishman in Canada,"
and while the most pretentious of his poems in this little book were
written across the ocean, others are the product of Canadian thought
and sentiment.
"Lake Lyrics, and Other Poems." By W. Wilfred Campbell. St. John,
N.B., 1889. Mr. Campbell, who was originally a clergyman of the Church
of England, is now in the public service at Ottawa, and has written
some of his best poems for American magazines. One on "The Mother,"
in 'Harper's Monthly' is full of poetic thought and deep pathos, and
should be better known by Canadians than it appears to be. At this
time of writing his new volume of poems entitled "The Dread Voyage"
(Toronto, 1893), has appeared; it sustains his reputation, though one
can hardly encourage his effort to imitate Tennyson in such poems as
"Sir Lancelot." Canadian poets too frequently are imitative rather than
original. Mr. Campbell's verses on the varied scenery of the lakes of
the West show the artistic temperament.
For instance:
"Domed with the azure of heaven,
Floored with a pavement of pearl,
Clothed all about with a brightness
Soft as the eyes of a girl.
"Girt with a magical girdle,
Rimmed with a vapour of rest--
These are the inland waters,
These are the Lakes of the West."