Alan Crawley, Contemporary Verse and the Development
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ALAN CRAWLEY, CONTEMPORARY VERSE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN POETRY IN THE FORTIES by LEOTA JOAN McCULLAGH B.S.N,, University of British Columbia, 1956 B.A., University of Victoria, 1967 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF"ARTS in the Department of ' English We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1973 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada ABSTRACT The development of modern poetry in Canada is presented by the critics in essentially a straight line progression beginning with the Montreal Group in the twenties and culminating in the 'Renaissance' of the forties which was fostered largely by the Montreal little magazines Preview and First Statement. This presentation is distorted in several ways. It suggests that modernism was established in Canada in the twenties and gives a disproportionate amount of credit and influence to.the Montreal Group; it neglects the confused and uncertain period of the thirties; and it almost entirely ignores the important contribution made to the establishment and development of modernism in.Canada by Alan Crawley and his west coast magazine Contemporary Verse. The work of the Montreal Group was extremely important to the development of modern poetry in Canada. It was through their efforts that the influences of Yeats and Eliot were introduced to Canada, and these influences provided an exhilarating antidote to the excesses of the nineteenth-century genteel.romanticism that dominated Canadian poetry at the time. But it is a mistake to think that the ideas and techniques of the .Montreal Group became current in the twenties or the thirties. A review of poetry published before the forties indicates indisputably that nineteenth-century styles and attitudes were dominant and.that modernism came in a very weak second. The kind of poetry that was fashioned after Eliot and Yeats seemed too intellectual, too abstract to be relevant to a people in the midst of a major social dislocation— iii the Depression. It was not until the forties under the stimulus and direction of the social realism poetry of Auden and his group that modernism really became established in Canada, Preview was an important part of this development because it made Auden's ideas and techniques current. First Statement helped to temper this new poetry by focusing on its imported, derivative quality, But it was Alan Crawley's Contemporary Verse which began it all in.1941. This thesis will make the contents of Contemporary Verse more accessible and better known by means of an index; and will explore the.contribution that Alan Crawley made to the development of modern poetry in Canada by editing, of Contemporary (1941-1952), by criticizing and counselling poets, and by generally fostering an interest in.poetry through lectures, radio talks, and poetry reading tours. As much as possible Crawley and his contemporaries will speak for themselves through their.letters, Chapter I will lay the ground work by exploring the development of modern poetry in the pre-forties period as it is presented in the literature; Chapter II will discuss the beginning of Contemporary Verse; Chapter III the magazine and Alan Crawley's allied activities during the war years; Chapter IV the post-war years; and Chapter V will offer concluding remarks on the significance of Alan Crawley's work to the development of poetry in the forties. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABBREVIATIONS vi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I MODERN POETRY BEFORE THE FORTIES 4 CHAPTER II CONTEMPORARY VERSE; BEGINNINGS 22 CHAPTER III MODERNISM NATURALIZED: CONTEMPORARY VERSE 1941-1946 50 CHAPTER IV NEW DEPARTURES: CONTEMPORARY VERSE 1947-1952 80 CHAPTER V ALAN CRAWLEY, CONTEMPORARY VERSE, AND THE RENAISSANCE OF THE FORTIES IH INDEX TO CONTEMPORARY VERSE 1941-1952 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I was greatly assisted in the preparation of this thesis by Alan Crawley who freely shared his time, his interest, and his extensive knowledge with me, The large file of personal correspondence which he opened to me immeasurably enriched this thesis. Floris Clark McLaren, P. K. Page, and Dorothy Livesay also generously shared thsLar experience and understanding of the forties with me and kindly lent me material from their personal libraries, The patience and understanding of these people supported me through many delays and discouragements, and I am grateful for their help. My family endured the writing of this thesis for an unconscionably long time and I thank,them for their patience. ABBREVIATIONS Personal correspondence is used extensively in this thesis, The following abbreviations are used in referring to this correspondence: Holder of the letter— AC Alan Crawley JMcC Joan McCullagh FMcL Floris Clark McLaren JM Jay Macpherson UT University of Toronto (Since this thesis was written some of the correspondence held by Alan Crawley has been transferred to Queen's University.) Date of letter— Jan, January Feb. February Aug. August Sept, September Oct. October Nov, November Dec, December nd no date (March, April, May, June, and July are not abbreviated.) INTRODUCTION Not many people know Alan Crawley's little west coast magazine Contemporary Verse. Even serious students of Canadian literature may not know it, although itiran for more than eleven years and spanned the period of the 'renaissance' of the forties. Alan Crawley and Contemporary Verse have not been entirely ignored. There are polite, usually respectful references to them in the literature, generally just preceding the meaty discussions of the magazines that most people do know—Preview and First Statement. Desmond Pacey was complimentary in Creative Writing in Canada; "Alan Crawley founded Contemporary Verse in 1941 with the specific object of encouraging the new poetry in Canada, and showed almost impeccable taste in the choice of good poetry and in providing sympathetic and perceptive reviews of the current output of verse"-'- (Pacey worried that Crawley might miss the tribute and wrote to him June 25, 1952 "I hope you noticed the brief and inadequate but very sincere tribute I paid you and your magazine?") Munroe Beattie was more generous, devoting a full paragraph to Crawley and his magazine in the Literary History of Canada. He called Crawley a "gifted editor", and said "To read throughithe files of this small, neat magazine, is to feel sustained respect for Mr. Crawley's judgment and catholicity, and astonishment at the number of good Canadian poets who sent him their poems.Contemporary Verse fared less well in Dudek and Gnarowski's highly regarded The Making of Modern Poetry in Canada. Raymond Souster 2 is quoted as saying to Dudek "I think you're probably as fed up: with Contemporary Verse and Northern Review as I am, and I know there are plenty of others who feel the same way;"^ and in their discussion of little magazines, the authors relegate Contemporary Verse to the "largest category" of little magazines—"the uncommitted or eclectic magazines". "Good Literature" is their "pious hope" and Alan Crawley's Contemporary Verse is a "notable example" of this type of magazine.5 Dudek was more specific in his article "The Role of Little Magazines in Canada," but the deprecatory tone is still . present. Crawley was "handicapped by blindness and cornered in the far west," Dudek said; and he condemned Contemporary Verse for not being a fighting magazine with a policy:" It was concerned only with publishing 'good poetry' — which, in itself, can embody an affirmation—but it did not in addition work out any program of ideas which this poetry could fire. It lasted for ten years, however, carrying sparks from any source which might show a flicker in that period.6 When it comes to a consideration of the development of modern poetry in Canada, Contemporary Verse and Alan Crawley have had a bad press. There is Floris McLaren's very good article, "Contemporary Verse: A Canadian Quarterly" in Tamarack Review, but few people know it.^ Canadian Literature has tried to rectify the situation with two articles avowing the importance of Crawley and his magazine to modern poetry—Ethel Wilsonis "Of Alan Crawley" in 1964 and George Robertson's "Alan Crawley and Contemporary Verse" in 1969.^ These articles madeAlan Crawley a little better known, but they did not explore or establish the significant contribution Contemporary Verse made to poetry during the forties. They are basically 3 testimonials, impressive but lacking the detailed evidence that literary history thrives on. In spite of the fact that Alan Crawley edited the first modern poetry magazine in Canada and continued it throughout the decade of the forties (probably the most exciting period for poetry in Canada), set and maintained the high standards essential for the growth of new poetry, and was influentially involved with a number of major poets of the period—he and Contemporary Verse have been largely ignored by the critics. With Contemporary Verse not a factor to be considered, the development of modern poetry in Canada is presented in the literature as an Eastern and, even more specifically, a Montreal accomplishment. Modernism in poetry began in the twenties in Montreal with the "Montreal Group" critics states developed steadily to become "the dominant mood of Canadian poetry" by 1936 with the publication of New Provinces,-*-^ and was finally tempered by the conflict between the two Montreal little magazines Preview and First Statement in the early forties.