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Canadian poetry in French and Canadian poetry in English can be called (using Hugh MacLennan's term) "Two Solitudes." Like their respective cultures, they have evolved separately from and with little influence on each other. Pierre Chauveau, the first Premier of the province of Québec, compared the separation of the French and English cultures in Canada to the famous double staircase of the Château de Chambord, that was built to allow two persons to climb it without meeting and even without seeing each other except at intervals: "English and French, we climb by a double flight of stairs toward the destinies reserved for us on this continent, without knowing each other, without meeting each other, except on the landing of politics."[1]
Early verse[]
The first book written in verse by a Canadian was Épîtres, Satires, Chansons, Épigrammes et Autres Pièces de vers by Michel Bibaud, published in 1830.
Mouvement littéraire[]
A group of French speaking poets and authors belonging to the Mouvement littéraire came to Ottawa from Quebec City when the civil service moved to Ottawa in 1870. This group included Alfred Garneau, Antoine Gerin-Lajoie, Achilles Frechette and others. They are considered some of the most important poets and writers in 19th Century French Canada.
End of 19th century[]
Octave Crémazie is considered the father of French Canadian poetry. His poetry and that of his follower Louis Fréchette are romantic of form and patriotic in inspiration. At the same time, Pamphile Le May was writing intimist poetry about the simple farm life and Alfred Garneau wrote his feelings.
The Montreal School[]
L'École littéraire de Montréal was not a literary school but a group of poets that met regularly. In reaction to the earlier following of the romantic Victor Hugo, they took later schools (such as the Parnassian or symbolism) as their masters. The most talented among them was certainly Émile Nelligan, a young poet who stopped writing at only 20 years of age due to mental illness.
The terroir[]
Outside Montreal, other poets, such as Nérée Beauchemin continued Pamphile Le May's depiction of the life of the habitants. Then came the powerful Alfred Desrochers, a precursor to the "pays" school of poetry of Gaston Miron and John Paul Ambas.
In 1937 Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau published the first book of modernist poetry in French Canada, Regards et Jeux dans l'espace. Garneau's reputation would soar in the 1950s, after publication of his Complete Poems (1949), as would that of his cousin, poet Anne Hébert.
21st century[]
Ophelie a poetess of the twenty first century writes in a highly sensual way. Her poetry is different to the older intellectual type poetry. Ophelie reverses the "new poetry " slogan [inspired by A.J.M. Smith and F.R. Scott in the 1930s] and values sensuality over intellect, emotions over logic. Ophelie's poetry is lyrical with brilliant images and emotive to the extreme -as exemplified in her poem COMME MORT MAIS ÉVEILLÉS
See also[]
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References[]
- Bentley, D. M. R (2004), The Confederation Group of Canadian poets, 1880-1897, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0802087396, http://books.google.ca/books?id=yD_F8V0wONkC&lpg=PP1&dq=Canadian%20poets&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
- Woodcock, George (1976), Canadian poets, 1960-1973: a list, Golden Dog Press, ISBN 0919614140, http://books.google.ca/books?id=OZ28ntU7AnoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Canadian%20poets&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
- Heath, Jeffrey M (1980-1991), Profiles in Canadian Literature, Volume 7, Dundurn Press, ISBN 1550021451, http://books.google.ca/books?id=qmMRJzrllTwC&lpg=PA69&dq=Canadian%20poets&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
- Trehearne, Brian (2010), Canadian Poetry 1920 to 1960, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 9780771086311, http://books.google.ca/books?id=5YgppDd6JQcC&lpg=PA440&dq=Canadian%20poets&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
- Gerson, Carole; Gwendolyn Davies (2010), Canadian Poetry from the Beginnings Through the First World War, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 9780771093647, http://books.google.ca/books?id=YKfveTOyTB0C&lpg=PA417&dq=Canadian%20poets&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Notes[]
- ↑ D. Louder, "Quebec, Canada and la francophonie ," Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs in Lethbridge, Alberta, Dec. 11, 1997. ULaval.ca, Web, July 5, 2011.
External links[]
- "Poetry in French" at the Canadian Encyclopedia.
- A digital history of Canadian poetry
- Canadian poetry archive
- Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto
- Canadian poetry sites, League of Canadian Poets.
- Poetry Resource a website for students of poetry
- Canadian Panorama poetry book by José Tlatelpas about Native Canada and multiculturalism
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