Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1999. Graduate Programme in English. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-253). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ43438.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of New Brunswick, Dept. of English, 2003. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 22-26. Also available online through University of New Brunswick, UNB Electronic Theses & Dissertations.

Cette thèse a pour but l'examen des influences de la poésie française sur la poésie canadienne-française entre 1850 et 1895, dates qui représentent la période de l'essor de la poésie romantique à Québec. Puisque le romantisme au Canada a été traité en profondeur, cette étude vise plutôt a faire ressortir l'influence d’autres mouvements importants en France à cette époque. Le premier chapitre examine le milieu d'où jaillit l'Ecole de Québec pour établir dans quelle mesure les conditions économiques, politiques et commerciales tendaient à décourager l’épanouissement d'une littérature indigène et à rendre l'influence, une fois accessible, des lettres françaises d'autant plus inévitable. Bien qu’il soit nécessaire des l'abord d’établir cette accessibilité, le procédé principal de cette étude consiste en l'examen de l'évidence interne des influences françaises dans les écrits des poètes les plus importants pour le développement de la poésie canadienne-française vers l'autonomie. Cet examen cherche à préciser non seulement les sources en soi mais aussi leur caractère, leur étendue, et leur prédominance relative vis-à-vis de l'originalité créatrice dans ces écrits. Il est impossible de ne pas reconnaître l’importance des emprunts conscients et voulus, puisés dans le fond d'un tel poète français, surtout dans le cas dfun grand nombre d’imitations qui font partie de l'oeuvre canadienne-française a ses debuts. Mais, croyant avec G. Bessette (Les Images en Poésie Canadienne-française) que les emprunts inconscients, automatiques, sont les plus signifiants pour l’investigateur de sources, l'auteur de cette étude s'appuie sur l'analyse objective de la forme - lexique, images, prosodie - pour mettre en relief les inspirations profondes qui influèrent sur la poesie de l'Ecole de Québec. Cette thèse affirme, selon le témoignage de la poésie d’Octave Crémazie, Pamphile Lemay et Nérée Beauchemin, l'éclectisme répandu de la poésie canadienne au xixe siècle, un éclectisme qui, malgré la ténacité de l'école romantique, fit appel aux precédés poétiques des mouvements parnassien et post-parnassien dans une mesure jusqu'ici négligée. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation differs from previous research in that it suggests the continuity of Canadian poetry within a hypothesized four stages of development in North American poetry. The study is supported by a supplementary computer concordance to the major works of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, Isabella Valancy Crawford, Archibald Lampman, Duncan Campbell Scott, E.J. Pratt, Earle Birney and Margaret Avison. The continuity of Canadian poetry is indicated by a transference of poetic metaphor and world view from the works of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts (the 1880’s Group), to those of E.J. Pratt (the 1920's Group), and from Pratt to Earle Birney (the 1940’s Group). Stage One in the development of North American poetry emerges in relationship to the building up of community. Stage Two is characterized by a Romantic transcending of the land which overleaps evil; Stage Three by an acknowledgement of evil in man and nature and Stage Four by a concentrated inquiry into the evil of human nature in what might be described as the contemporary Black Romantic Movement. Chapter One, "The Forest and The Garden" chronicles the wilderness-garden antithesis in relationship to Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Heavysege and Isabella Valancy Crawford. The dominant world view of this group is that of "garden" as it relates to the cultivation of the forest, and the primary metaphors are from the vegetative world. Chapter Two, "The Dream World", describes the movement away from the dream as a metaphor of romantic transcendentalism in the works of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, Archibald Lampman and Duncan Campbell Scott. The "dream" in Roberts' canon emerges as a vehicle for transcendence which fuses Christian Romanticism and Darwinian progress; in the later works of Duncan Campbell Scott this transcendence is denied and evil is admitted, and the dream emerges in relationship to the temporal world. Chapter Three, "From Steel To Stone", indicates the transference of metaphor and world view from Roberts to Pratt in which the earlier poet's aspiring Darwinism is transformed into an atavistical structure which stresses the possibility of human Retrogression to the cave ethic, the steel to stone reversal. It is suggested that this atavistic reversal and the dominant metaphor of "blood" which characterize poetry written from 1920 to 1945 were occasioned by the carnage of two world wars. In E.J. Pratt's early work, the blood metaphor is associated with the bloodshed of war, and the "taint" or toxin of evil in the bloodstream which precipitates war. But it is also associated with a structure similar to Eliot's fertility cycle and the possibility of Christ-like redemption. In Pratt's later works, the blood metaphor moves directly into the Aryan myth and this also characterizes the writings of A.M. Klein. In F.R. Scott, Pratt's "taint" or "toxin", although carrying all of its previous escatological structure, becomes a real virus. Chapter Four, "The Fallen World", suggests that the concept of the Fall dominates poetry written in Canada from 1950 to 1965. Earle Birney is introduced as a transitional poet and it is suggested that his earlier poetry, which shows the influence of E.J. Pratt, moves from an Auden-inspired humanism, not unlike that of Scott and Pratt, to an ethos verging on the contemporary Black Romantic, which stresses the inversion of traditional Romantic myth and morality. Faced with the fallen world, the contemporary poet may decide to set up demons and assign to them a positive value (as Leonard Cohen and Daryl Hine do) or he may prefer to assign reality to the traditional God in relationship to the making of his own poetic world (as Margaret Avison does). The works of Avison and Cohen are examined in relationship to a world view which stresses the fallen world and the primary metaphors of sun-destructive and sun-creative. The Conclusion reviews the dominant metaphors and world views which have characterized Canadian poetry. It suggests that the development of poetry in Canada has been similar to the development of poetry in the United States in broad general terms although specific aspects of historical and geographical structure have changed some of the details of this development. It concludes that there is a continuity of Canadian poetry. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Thesis--Paris. / Without thesis statement. Bibliography: p. [203]-215.

Thesis--Paris. / Without thesis statement. Bibliography: p. [203]-215.

Even a hasty perusal of Dr. W.E. Matters' Check List reveals the vast quantity of poetry published in Canada during the last half of the nineteenth century. This thesis is an attempt to explore and evaluate a crosscut of this poetry over a period of fifteen years, 1855-1880, and to establish the qualitative values in such a quantitative output. It is axiomatic that where there is movement there is life, and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that since the Confederation era was a particularly fluid period in Canadian growth, it called for a lively response. That there was such a response is evidenced in the various magazines and periodicals published during that time, with circulation wide enough to make it both convenient and profitable for any aspiring poets. And if there should be no especially aesthetic value to their poetry, at least they have recorded the aspirations and convictions of the average Canadian in the decade preceding and following Confederation. This aspect alone makes them worthy of consideration. Because of the quantity of material some selectivity was necessary. It seemed advisable to discuss only such poems as had some reference to Canada. The poems are, therefore, divided into three classes. After the Introductory Chapter which is devoted chiefly to an explanation and recreation of the Canadian scene at the time of Confederation, Chapter II deals with those poems Praising Canada's Beauty; Chapter III - those Praising Country as Country; Chapter Iv - those Miscellaneous-Mentioning Confederation. Chapter V is a brief evaluation only, since the poems are individually evaluated throughout. The study, confined as it is to a period between I855-I880, is obviously restricted, as it excludes many of the better, or better-known, poems particularly those of Charles; G.D. Roberts and Bliss Carman. N or was it deemed advisable to include the French Canadian poems of which there is a considerable number. The poems included have been analysed, more or less, and whatever may be their merit individually, they are, en masse, a significant contribution to Canadian Literature. Appendix I gives the musical setting for an adaptation of "My Own Canadian Home". Appendix II records in full "Our New Dominion". The Bibliography is chiefly a Check List, and includes a few works not recorded in Dr. W.E. Watters’ Check List. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

That period in Canada, between 1935 and 1955, which encompasses a pre-war depression, a world war, a post-war period of disillusionment, and the beginning of a time of affluence and intellectual expansion, has left an impressive fund of poetry recording the emotional response of Canadians to the turbulence of these years. At the beginning of this period, the poetry is asserting its independence from the derivative poetry of the earlier Canadian poets, and the end of the period, has already introduced the new mythopoeic mode which dominates the recent literary scene. The major themes of the poetry of this period are directly related to the historical events of the time. In Chapter I, the poetry of social protest is examined in detail. A group of exclusively critical poems, unexperimental in technique, is balanced by a group of more sympathetic ones, employing more of the characteristics of the new poetry. Many poems of social protest indicate an enduring hope for a better future, but those poems dominate this tradition, which incorporate a decidedly revolutionary program. The ultimate solution, however varying the degrees of action may be, is man's own responsibility. Chapter II presents poems inspired by World War II. The initial distrust of the war is replaced by despair. The loss of love, life, security, and meaning is explored in introspective, sensitive poems, as concerned with the emotions on the battlefield, as those in the empty home. The hope for a better future is found in love, courage, or endurance, and the final victory evokes both faith and distrust in its reality. The psychological interest in the individual in a postwar world has produced a number of poems examined in Chapter III. By this time, the poets are already employing new forms with comparative freedom, and this poetry reflects the flexibility demanded by an interest in the complexities of human psychology. The tensions between the need for people, and the need to be alone are as convincingly presented as those between the desire to be loved, and the desire to be independent. The tedium of daily existence creates its peculiar cyclic metaphor, manipulated by many of the poets in a variety of ways. The psychology of abnormality preoccupies a few poems, but a fairly general statement of faith in humanity is characteristic of all of this work. In this chapter, the psychological responses in several of Pratt's poems are examined, along with a brief discussion of his relationship to the rest of the Canadian poetry. Chapter IV examines the poetry which very definitely uses myth as structure, and discusses, very briefly, the mythopoeic poetry after 1955. The favourite structural myth, the fertility cycle, is accompanied by the various aspects of the quest myth. A curiously ironical inversion of the apocalyptic vision indicates that the Canadian mythopoeic poets cannot be expected to be conventional. This study leads to the ultimate conclusion that the Canadian poetry of this twenty year period is a related, but disunified group of fragments, directly connected with the chronological events of the period, but never merging into a clear stream of poetry which flows through these years. The chief reasons for this are explored in the conclusion. A. selective bibliography of the poetry published in Canada between 1935 and 1955 is appended. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Since World War II Canadian literary criticism has tended to be either historical or aesthetic in its emphasis. Little or no interest has been shown in the linguistic approach to criticism; no work has been done on Canadian poets comparable to the writing of Donald David and David Abercrombie on English poets, or of Chatman or Miles on American poets. It is the purpose of this thesis to make a preliminary survey of contemporary Canadian poets from Pratt to Newlove, with particular reference to their style and technique. Special attention will be given to rhythm, and sound, relating Canadian poets' experience to contemporary trends elsewhere. Central to this study is the concept of rhythm in poetry. For the older poets, Pratt and Klein, rhythm was contained in the traditional metres. Raymond Bolster, influenced by the Chicago poets, directed attention to the imagist conception of free verse; and this led, among the poets of the forties, to an increasing interest in the experiments of Pound and Williams. In the fifties, Olson, Duncan, Creeley and Ginsberg began to emphasize the oral and linguistic side of poetry-making. Their influence, first felt in Eastern Canada, has recently gained recognition on the West Coast. The Canadian poets dealt with in this study are those specifically concerned with new experiments in rhythm and sound, and for this reason such poets as Birney and Layton have been excluded. Their eclecticism and frequent changes in style would seem to deserve specialized. research. In this present work, Chapter I defines the terms used and summarizes various critical views on verse techniques, from the Russian Formalists up to the present. Chapter II deals with the forerunners of experimentation, Pratt and Klein. Of the two, Klein was the greater technician, a poet who played with many metrical forms. Both men, however, were deeply concerned with language and its relation to poetry, and this linguistic interest undoubtedly Influenced younger poets. Chapter III examines the imagist movement and in particular its effect on the poet of the thirties, Raymond Knister. Although he used metaphor and symbol, the emphasis which Knister put upon the object— "little things and great"— did great service to the growth of an indigenous, objective movement in Canadian poetry. This movement is the subject of chapters IV and V, in which the work of Souster and Dudek is examined. Chapter VI considers the poetry of Milton Acorn as it relates to the imagism and social commentary already present in the poetry of Souster and Dudek. An unusual aspect of Acorn's verse is its didactic note, expressed in resonant rhythms. Chapter VII examines the style of Alfred Purdy. Although he eschews rhyme, he uses the Iambic stance whenever it suits his purpose. Purdy's own personal rhythm dominates the content and structure of all his poetry. In conclusion Chapter VIII refers to the contemporary scene in British Columbia, attempting to show that the experimental trends from the western States and from eastern Canada have united in the work of Phyllis Webb, James Reid and John Newlove. Each one, though markedly individual, is profoundly conscious of the spoken word, the linguistic collecation of words, and the importance of syntax as a propeller of rhythm and sound. Newlove's poetry is especially singled out as being an 'oral' and 'aural' reflection of his place and time. An Appendix is attached which described the Trager and Smith approach to stress, intonation and juncture, with some critical notes on its application to the art of poetry. Throughout this thesis, the emphasis is on an examination of a poet's style rather than an evaluation of his content. Nonetheless it should be borne in mind that "Sound and meter...must be studied as elements of the totality of a work of art, not in isolation from meaning." An examination of Canadian poetry from Pratt to Purdy must recognize the intimate interplay that exists between thought and expression. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate