The literary reputation of Bliss Carman: A study in the development of Canadian taste in poetry

271 Pages·015.434 MB·English

by  McPherson, Hugh

INFORMATION TO USERS
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films
the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and
dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of
computer printer.
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the
copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations
and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper
alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized
copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by
sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing
from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
ProQuest Information and Learning
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA
800-521-0600
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
THE LITERARY REPUTATION OP BLISS CARMAN:
A STUDY IN THE DEVELOPMENT
OP CANADIAN TASTE IN POETRY
Hugh McPherson
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
1950
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UMI Number: EC53846
INFORMATION TO USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy
submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and
photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper
alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized
copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
UMI Microform EC53846
Copyright2009by ProQuest LLC
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest LLC
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Approved for the
Department of English
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
C 0 I T S IT T S
ABSTRACT
FOREWORD
Chapter
I. Sources: An Essay on Canadian
Literary Periodicals
(1888 - 1950) 1
II. 1888 - 1914: Chronological survey
of Criticism 18
III. 1888 - 1914: Topical Analysis of
Criticism 56
IV. 1915 - 1929: Chronological Survey
of Criticism 81
V. 1915 - 1929: Topical Analysis of
Criticism 124
VI. 1930 - 1950: Chronological Survey
of Criticism 153
VII. 1930 - 1950: Topical Analysis of
Criticism 189
VIII. Conclusion: A Rote on Trends in
Canadian Criticism 210
APP3IDIX A A Short list of Bliss
Carman's Works 220
APPENDIX B Table of Periodicals
Consulted 222
APPENDIX Books and Articles About
Bliss Carman 227
APPENDIX D Some General Articles on
Canadian Literature,
(vhich did not mention
Bliss Carman) 247
APPENDIX E Additional References 255
258
VITA
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
| ABSTRACT
I Bliss Carman, one of Canada’s best-known poets,
I
£
| published more than thirty volumes of verse and prose
| between 1893 and 19'29. The literary criticism which
1 ■
.
* his work inspired may be considered as a limited index
i
| to the development of taste in poetry in Canada.
i
.f
This thesis is a detailed study of the criticism
of Bliss Carman in Canadian books, periodicals and
i
| newspapers and in the leading British and American
I
reviews, from 1888 to 1950. It begins with an essay
. s on Canadian periodicals which mentioned Carman's work.
The succeeding chapters describe chronologically the
notices which Carman received and analyze these notices
in terms of the critical attitudes which they express -•
attitudes of nationalism, moral uplift, social-cons-
ciousness, vicarious pleasure, romantic sentiment and
personal booming. The analysis reveals how these
attitudes persisted or changed from decade to decade
and concludes with a note on trends in Canadian liter­
ary criticism as revealed by the criticism of Carman.
\ The five appendices consist of: a short bibliog-
i
| raphy of Carman’s works; a table of the periodicals
| consulted; a bibliography of book and periodical
| criticism of Carman; a short bibliography of articles
i|
| on Canadian literature which did not mention Carman;
I
Is and a bibliography of other works consulted.
!
■ I
"j
1
j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
[ In recent years Canadian scholars have shown
i
1
an increasing concern over the inadequacy of our lit­
erary criticism. Professor Desmond Pacey, reviewing
the whole subject in The University of Toronto Quarterly
for January, 1950, emphasized the dearth of Canadian
periodical criticism, of monographs on Canadian
authors, and the lack of a competent, comprehensive
literary history. "Countless doctoral candidates
; have cultivated the English-and American fields,"
Dr. Pacey continued," ... but in Canada scarcely the
first sod has been turned'.., ."
I feel that as Canadians we have, a special right
and responsibility to Investigate our own lit­
erary history. Our social, political, and econ­
omic historians have long shown us the way... .
; Our American neighbors have come increasingly,
| in the past two decades, to make their own
literary tradition a major subject of study.
The "general volumes" which have attempted to
| cover a part or all of Canadian literature are the
| following:
| Handbook of Canadian Literature (English.) (1906)
j by Archibald’MacMurchy,
| English-Canadian Literature, (1913) by
j T. G. Marquis,
j A History of English-Canadian Literature to
j Confederation, (1920) by R. P. Baker.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Highways of Canadian Literature, (1924) by
J. D. Logan and D. G. '.French,
Headwaters of Canadian Literature, (1924) by
Archibald MacMechan,
Appraisals of Canadian Literature, (1926) by
Lionel Stevenson,'
An Outline of Canadian Literature (French and^
English! (1927) by Lorne Pierce,
A Handbook of Canadian Literature, (1930) by
V. B» Rhodenizer,
On Canadian Poetry, (1943) by E. K. Brown,
The Book of Canadian Poetry, (1943) by
A. J. M. Smith.
Each of these books shows some merit in its organization,
its critical insight or the amount of factual information
which it contains. But as a panorama of Canadian literary
development, with the multiplicity of ideas, attitudes,
tensions, motives and pressures attendant upon that
development, each book exhibits obvious shortcomings:
not one of them now covers the entire field; some treat
Canadian writers in an isolated, out-of-period manner;
some force the nation's literary output into uneasy
categories; and some indulge more in patriotic eulogy
than in serious literary criticism.
Now a comprehensive literary history of Canada
would involve a synthesis of several elements: a
careful analysis of the work and careers of individual
writers; an examination of the political, social, econ­
omic, religious and philosophical forces which affected
these writers; and a study of the literary criticism
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
| or critio.al thinking which both reflected and shaped the
| nation's attitude toward its literature. Back of
such a literary history would lie a tremendous amount
: of research. The present dissertation -- a study in
the literary reputation of Bliss Carman -- is offered
as a small portion of the research which must necess­
arily precede the writing of our literary history.
The purposes of this dissertation are: to observe
the record of Canadian book and periodical criticism of
a single poet; to observe the critical attention
which the same poet received .in Britain and the United
States; to discover what Canadian critical standards
this record reveals and, if possible, how and why
f
I
\ they developed or failed to develop. In short, the
dissertation will reveal — within narrow limits — what
Canadian taste was, and how it funtioned, over a period
* A
of sixty years, (1890 - 1950); it will thus illuminate at
least one aspect of the development of the nation's
? literature and taste.
I There are numerous reasons why Bliss Carman has
t
I been selected as the most suitable writer for a study
I in Canadian literary development. His work has been
I
| good enough and prominent enough to inspire a large
'■j
jj body of critical writing covering a period of more
I than half a century. Since a substantial amount of
I
I
i
I
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.