George Herbert Clarke

by George J. Dance

George Herbert Clarke (1873-1953). Portrait by Elizabeth Harrison (1907-2001), 1937. Courtesy Trent University.

George Herbert Clarke (August 17, 1873 - 1953) was a Canadian poet and academic.

Life

Clarke was born at Gravesend, Kent, England. He moved with his family to Toronto at the age of 8.

He attended McMaster University, where he earned a B.A. in 1891 and an M.A. in 1896.

He served as a Professor at Mercier University, Georgia, (1901-1905), Peabody College, Tennessee (1908-11), and the University of Tennessee and University of the South until 1925. From 1925 he was head of the English Department at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, and a member of the editorial committee of Queen's Quarterley. He became editor-in-chief of Queen's Quarterly in 1944, and held that position until his death.

Recognition

In 1937 Clarke's poem "Hymn to the Spirit Eternal" was awarded a gold medal by the Governor-General for best poem appearing in the Canadian Authors Association literary magazine, Canadian Poetry, during 1936.

Clarke received an LL.D. from McMaster in 1923, an LL.D. from Queen's in 1943, and a D.C.L. from Bishop's University in 1944. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1930, and was awarded the Society's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1943.

Publications

Poetry

• Wayfarings. Chicago: Windsor & Kenfield, 1901.
• At the Shrine, and other poems. Cincinnati, OH: Stewart & Kidd, 1914.
• The Hasting Day. Toronto: Dent, 1930.
• Halt and Parley, and other poems. Toronto: Macmillan, 1934.
• Ode on the Burial of King George the Vth. Toronto: Macmillan, 1936.
• Hymn to the Spirit Eternal. Toronto: Macmillan, 1937.
• Commemoration Ode, 1841-1941. Kingston, ON: 1941.
• Selected Poems (edited by George Whalley). Toronto: Ryerson, 1954.

Short fiction

• The Curving Road. 1919.

Non-fiction

• A Primer of Old French (with Charles Joseph Murray). London: Blackie, 1902.
• A Grammar of the German Language (with Charles Joseph Murray). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1906.
• Why the United States Entered the War. London & New York: Hodder & Stoughton, [1917?]
• Certain Symbols in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Kingston, ON: Queen's Quarterly offprint, 1920.

Edited

• Jean Racine, Athalie. London: Blackie, 1907.
• Sidney Lanier, Some Reminiscences and Early Letters. Macon, GA: J.W. Burke, 1907.
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, Selected Poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910; Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1910.
• A Treasury of War Poetry: British and American poems of the world war, 1914-1917. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1917; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1917;
• A Treasury of War Poetry: British and American poems of the world war, 1914-1919: Second series. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1919; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1919.
• Francis Bacon, The Essays; or, Counsels civil and moral. New York: Macmillan, 1923.
• The New Treasury of War Poetry: Poems of the second world war. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of Canadian poets

References

Fonds

• George Herbert Clarke fonds at Queen's University

External links

Poems

• "Lines Written in Surrey, 1917"
• Poems at the Virginia Quarterly Review: "Over Saleve," "Song"
• George Herbert Clarke at AllPoetry (2 poems)

Books

• George Herbert Clarke at the Online Books Page
• George Herbert Clarke at Amazon.com

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