Timeline of Canadian poetry

This Timeline of Canadian poetry contains significant events in the history of Canadian poetry in English, mostly first publications of books, until 1999. The list has been limited to 3 books per year.

17th century
1628 - Quodlibets / Robert Hayman

19th century
1825 - The Rising Village / Oliver Goldsmith

1856 - The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and other poems / Charles Sangster

1857 - Saul / Charles Heavysege

1860 - Hesperus, and other poems and lyrics / Charles Sangster

1879 - The Prophecy of Merlin, and other poems / John Reade

1884 Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie, and other poems / Isabella Valancy Crawford

1888- Among the Millet, and other poems / Archibald Lampman

1889 - Lake Lyrics, and other poems / William Wilfred Campbell]

1891 Pine, Rose, and Fleur de Lis / Seranus 1893 - Songs of the Common Day / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * Low Tide on Grand Pre / Bliss Carman
 * The Dread Voyage Poems / William Wilfred Campbell

1895 - The White Wampum / Pauline Johnson
 * Lyrics of Earth / Archibald Lampman
 * The House of the Trees, and other poems / Ethelwyn Wetherald

1896 - The Book of the Native / Charles G.D. Roberts 1897 - Ballads of Lost Haven / Bliss Carman 1898 - By the Aurelian Wall, and other elegies / Bliss Carman
 * In the Shadows / Pauline Johnson

1900 - Beyond the Hills of Dream / William Wilfred Campbell
 * The Poems of Archibald Lampman / Archibald Lampman

20th century
1902 - From the Book of Myths / Bliss Carman
 * The Radiant Road / Ethelwyn Wetherald

1903 - From the Green Book of the Bards / Bliss Carman
 * Canadian Born / Pauline Johnson
 * The Book of the Rose / Charles G.D. Roberts

1904 - Songs of the Sea Children / Bliss Carman
 * Sappho: One hundred lyrics / Bliss Carman
 * The Radiant Road / Ethelwyn Wetherald

1905 - From the Book of Valentines / Bliss Carman
 * The Poems of Wilfred Campbell / William Wilfred Campbell
 * Collected Poemss / Isabella Valency Crawford

1907 - Songs of a Sourdough / Robert Service
 * The Last Robin: Lyrics and sonnets / Ethelwyn Wetherald

1908 - Poetical Tragedies / William Wilfred Campbell
 * The Rough Rider, and other poems / Bliss Carman

1909 - Lonesome Bar, A romance of the lost, and other poems / Tom McInnes
 * Ballads of a Cheechako / Robert Service

1910 - In Amber Lands / Tom McInnes

1912 In Northern Skies, and other poems / Seranus 1913 Flint and Feather: The complete poems / Pauline Johnson
 * Rhymes of a Rounder / Tom McInnes

1916 - The Lamp of Poor Souls, and other poems / Marjorie Pickthall
 * The Drift of Pinions / Marjorie Pickthall
 * Sagas of Vaster Britain / William Wilfred Campbell
 * Rhymes of a Red Cross Man / Robert Service
 * The Song of the Prairie Land, and other poems / Wilson MacDonald

1919 - Poems: Lyrics and sonnets / Ethelwyn Wetherald
 * The Fool of Joy / Tom MacInnes
 * In Flanders Fields, and other poems / John McCrae
 * New Poems / Charles G.D. Roberts

1921 - Ballads of a Bohemian / Robert Service 1922 - The Woodcarver's Wife, and later poems / Marjorie Pickthall 1923 - Poetical Works / William Wilfred Campbell
 * Isabella Valancy Crawford / Isabella Valancy Crawford
 * Newfoundland Verse / E.J. Pratt

1925 - Far Horizons / Bliss Carman
 * The Sweet o' the Year, and other poems / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * Songs of Love and Labour / Seranus

1926 - Later Poems / Bliss Carman
 * Out of the Wilderness / Wilson MacDonald

1927 - The Iron Door: An ode / E.J. Pratt
 * The Vagrant of Time / Charles G.D. Roberts

1928 - Green Pitcher / Dorothy Livesay 1929 - Sanctuary: The Sunshine House sonnets / Bliss Carman
 * Later Poems and New Villanelles / Seranus
 * Wild Garden / Bliss Carman

1930 - The Roosevelt and the Antinoe / E.J. Pratt
 * Laconics / W.W.E. Ross

1931 - A Flagon of Beauty / Wilson MacDonald 1932 - Signpost / Dorothy Livesay
 * The Naiad, and other poems / Marjorie Pickthall
 * Sonnets / W.W.E. Ross

1933 - The Shrouding / Leo Kennedy 1934 - Windward I Rock / Kenneth Leslie
 * Penelope, and other poems / Seranus
 * The Iceberg, and other poems / Charles G.D. Roberts

1935 - The Song of the Undertow, and other poems / Wilson MacDonald
 * The Titanic / E.J. Pratt

1936 - New Provinces (anthology)
 * Complete Poems (2nd edition) / Marjorie Pickthall
 * Selected Poems / Charles G.D. Roberts

1937 - Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama first awarded


 * The Fable of the Goats, and other poems / E.J. Pratt

1938 - By Stubborn Stars / Kenneth Leslie 1940 - Hath Not a Jew / A.M. Klein
 * Brebeuf and His Brethren / E.J. Pratt

1943 - At the Long Sault, and other new poems / Archibald Lampman
 * Still Life, and other verse / E.J. Pratt
 * News of the Phoenix, and other poems / A.J.M. Smith

1944 - Unit of Five (anthology)
 * Day and Night / Dorothy Livesay

1945 - Here and Now / Irving Layton
 * Overture: Poems / F.R. Scott
 * When We Are Young / Raymond Souster

1946 - East of the City / Louis Dudek
 * Poems / Robert Duer Finch / Robert Finch]]
 * As Ten, as Twenty / P.K. Page

1947 - Selected Poems / Archibald Lampman
 * Poems for People / Dorothy Livesay
 * Behind the Log / E.J. Pratt

1948 - The Rocking Chair, and other poems / A.M. Klein 1950 - Of Time and the Lover / James Wreford

1951 - The Black Huntsman / Irving Layton 1952 - Cerberus / Louis Dudek, Irving Layton, & Raymond Souster
 * The Lyric Year / Wilson Macdonald

1953 - Love the Conqueror Worm / Irving Layton 1954 - Europe / Louis Dudek
 * Events and Signals / F.R. Scott
 * A Sort of Ecstasy / A.J.M. Smith

1955 - The Blue Propellor / Irving Layton
 * New Poems / Dorothy Livesay

1956 - Let Us Compare Mythologies / Leonard Cohen
 * The Bull Calf, and other poems / Irving Layton
 * The Improved Binoculars: Selected and new poem / Irving Layton
 * Experiment, 1923-1929 / W.W.E. Ross

1957 - Selected Poems, 1926-1956 / Dorothy Livesay
 * The Boatman, and other poems / Jay Macpherson
 * Selected Poems / Marjorie Pickthall

1958 - En Mexico / Louis Dudek 1959 - A Red Carpet for the Sun / Irving Layton

1960 - Winter Sun / Margaret Avison 1961 - The Spice Box of Earth / Leonard Cohen
 * Acis in Oxford, and other poems / Robert Finch

1962 - Poems for All the Annettes / Al Purdy
 * Collected Poems / A.J.M. Smith

1963 - Balls for a One-Armed Juggler / Irving Layton
 * The Rising Fire / Gwendolyn MacEwen

1964 - Flowers for Hitler / Leonard Cohen 1965 - Collected Poems / Irving Layton
 * Shapes and Sounds / W.W.E. Ross

1966 - The Circle Game / Margaret Atwood
 * A Breakfast for Barbarians / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * Parasites of Heaven / Leonard Cohen

1967 - ''Cry Ararat! Poems new and selected'' / P.K. Page
 * North of Summer: Poems from Baffin Island / Al Purdy
 * Poems: New and collected / A.J.M. Smith

1968 - The Animals in that Country / Margaret Atwood
 * The Documentaries: Selected longer poems / Dorothy Livesay
 * Wild Grape Wine / Al Purdy

1969 - The Shadowmaker / Gwendolyn MacEwen 1970 - The Journals of Susanna Moodie / Margaret Atwood
 * The Collected Works of Billy the Kid / Michael Ondaatje

1971 - Collected Poetry / Louis Dudek
 * The Poems of Kenneth Leslie / Kenneth Leslie

1972 - The Energy of Slaves / Leonard Cohen
 * Collected Poems / Dorothy Livesay

1973 - Power Politics / Margaret Atwood
 * The Armies of the Moon / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * Lovers and Lesser Men / Irving Layton

1974 - Collected Poems / A.M. Klein
 * Magic Animals: Selected poems old and new / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * Sex and Death / Al Purdy
 * Welcoming Disaster: Poems, 1970-1974 / Jay Macpherson

1975 - Selected Poems / Louis Dudek 1976 - Lampman's Sonnets / Archibald Lampman
 * For My Brother Jesus / Irving Layton

1977 - Hugh and Ion / Isabella Valancy Crawford The Poems of Irving Layton / Irving Layton 1978 - sunblue / Margaret Avison
 * Death of a Lady's Man / Leonard Cohen
 * The Classic Shade: Selected poems / A.J.M. Smith

1979 - There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems, 1963-1978 / Michael Ondaatje
 * Countryside Canada / James Wreford

1980 - Selected Poems / Daryl Hine

1981 - Governor General's Award for English language poetry first awarded
 * True Stories / Margaret Atwood

1982 - The T.E. Lawrence Poems / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * Earth-light: Selected poetry, 1963-1982 / Gwendolyn MacEwen

1983 - Snake Poems / Margaret Atwood 1984 - Interlunar / Margaret Atwood
 * Book of Mercy / Leonard Cohen
 * Feeling the Worlds: New poems / Dorothy Livesay

1985 - The Glass Air: Poems selected and new / P.K. Page 1987 - Afterworlds / Gwendolyn MacEwen 1989 - No Time / Margaret Avison
 * 1990 - Selected Poems / A.M. Klein
 * Selected Poetry / Archibald Lampman

1991 - Selected Poems / Margaret Avison 1993 - Stranger Music: Selected poems and songs / Leonard Cohen 1994 - Hologram: A book of glosas / P.K. Page
 * The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected poems / Michael Ondaatje
 * Naked with Summer in Your Mouth / Al Purdy

1995 - Morning in the Burned House / Margaret Atwood 1997 - Not Yet But Still / Margaret Avison
 * The Hidden Room: Collected Poems / P.K. Page

1998 - Eating Fire: Selected poetry, 1965-1995 / Margaret Atwood
 * The Poetry of Louis Dudek / Louis Dudek
 * Archive for our Time: Previously uncollected and unpublished poems / Dorothy Livesay

2000 - Beyond Remembering: Collected poems / Al Purdy

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