Thomas O'Hagan (poet)

by George Dance

Dr. Thomas O'Hagan (March 6, 1855 - March 1, 1939) was a Canadian poet, teacher, and man of letters.

Life
He was born in the Gore of Toronto (now part of Mississauga, Ontario), the youngest of five children of John and Bridget (O'Reilly) O'Hagan. When he was less than a year old, the family moved to rural Bruce Country, near the village of Paisley, where he grew up.

He attended St. Michael's College in Toronto, and then the University of Ottawa, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1882 and Master of Arts in 1885., and Syracuse University in 1889, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1889.. He also did postgraduate work at Cornell, Columbia, Chicago, Louvain, Grenoble and Fribourg Universities.

He alternated, and paid for, his studies with periods of teaching. From 1884 to 1888 he taught classics and history at Barrie, Pembroke, and Mitchell Collegiates. After graduating from Syracuse he taught at Walkerton High School, and then became principal of Waterdown Collegiate.

He wrote both poetry and academic essays, and became known as a popular lecturer on many subjects. From 1910 to 1913 he was chief editor of The New World in Chicago.

He was a regular contributor to the Catholic World magazine for over 30 years.

He died, after a two-year illness, at Mercy Hospital in Toronto. He is buried at St. Mary Immaculate Church in Chepstow, Ontario.

Writing
O'Hagan's first book of poetry, A Gate of Flowers, was praised by John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Louis Fréchette, and Charles G.D. Roberts. Poet Nicholas Flood Davin wrote to him: "I cannot deny myself the pleasure of telling you what I think about these verses. They are instinct with true inspiration, and should have, for all time, a place in Irish literature."

The Canadian Magazine called "The Song My Mother Sings" (from his second book, In Dreamland') the finest poem of its kind ever published in Canada.

Recognition
He was awarded a Litt.D. from Laval University in 1914 and from the University of Ottawa in 1924, and a LL.D. from Notre Dame University in 1917.

Poetry

 * A Gate of Flowers and Other Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1887.
 * In Dreamland, and Other Poems. Toronto: Williamson, 1893.
 * Songs of the Settlement and Other Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1899.
 * In the Heart of the Meadow, and Other Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1914.
 * Songs of Heroic Days. Toronto: William Briggs, 1916.
 * The Collected Poems of Thomas O'Hagan. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1922.
 * The Tide of Love. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1928.

'' Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the University of Toronto.   ''

Prose

 * Studies in Poetry
 * Canadian Essays
 * Essays Literary, Critical and Historical
 * Chats by the Fireside
 * Essays of Catholic Life, 1916.