THE LETTERS OF ARCHIBALD LAWMAN IN THE SlMN FRASER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Carol Marie Somners B.A., University of Minnesota, 1964 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MSTER OF ARTS in the Department 0 f Engl ish @ CAROL MRIE SOWERS 1979 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1979 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name : Carol Marie Sommers Degree: Master of Arts (Engl ish) Title of Thesis: The Letters of Archibald Lampman in the Simon Fraser University Library Examining Comittee: Chairperson: Jared Curtis, Professor of Engl ish Bruce H. Nesbi tt Senior Supervisor - Gordon R. Elliott Kathy Mezei Herbert Rosengarten External Examiner University of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C. Date Approved: August 2, 1979 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay The Letters of Archibald Lampman in the Simon Fraser University Library Author: -- - In _-,- (signature) Carol Marie Sommers (name August 2, 1979 (date) CIbs t ract The f ami 1y correspondence of Arch1bal d Lampman (1 861-1 899) , one of Canada's major pats, was not publicly available until 1971 hen a collection of one hundred and fifty-eight letters was discovered in the possession of Mrs. Natalie Haclnnes, Lampman's daughter, and acquired by the Simon Fraser University Library. One hundred and three of the letters, written between 1885 and 1898, are from Lampman to bud Enma Piayter, his fianc&'e and later his wife. This thesis is an annotated edition of Archibald Lampmen's letters to hud Playter (~anrpman), letters which are at once a primary source of various biographical and literary data, and more centrally, an outline of the poet's most intimate relationship. Together these aspects of the corre- spondence offer a new perspective on the romantic nature of the person and the pat, and on the nature of his romantic narratives and love poetry. Transcriptions of the remaining letters in the collection are included in the appendices. Among the correspondents are members of the poet's inndiate family, Duncan Campbell Scott, Charles G. 0. Roberts, Bliss Carman, William ban tfwells, and Hamlin Garland. Introductory material explains the principles of transcription used and provides a setting for the letters. Acknowledgements I wish to thank the people who in various ways shared in this edition of LMI~A~~letters: Brucc Nesbitt, for his general supervision and assistance; Gordon Ell iott, Kathy krei, and Herbert Rosengarten for their careful read- ing and considered criticism; Jared Curtis, for his timely advice on fonnat; Sharon Fawcett, for her preliminary transcription of the Lampnran letters; Percillr Groves, for her efficient and kind assistance in the Simon Fraser Library's Special Col lections; and Lisa Berland for her work on a demanding typing job. In addition, I would like to note my appreciation for the pioneer bibliographical research of Margaret Whitridge without which any annotated edition of Laqnuan letters would surely suffer. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Approval Page i i Abstract i i i Acknawledgcments iv Tabl'e of Contents v Preface v i List of Letters xvi i Letters frcm Archibald Lampman to bud Playter (~amp~un) Appendix A: Letters from !bud Playter Lampmen to Archibald Lampman Appendix B: Family Correspondence Appendix C: Letters from Bliss Carman, Charles G. D. Roberts, and Duncan Campbell Scott 1 70 Appendix 0: Businsss and Related Correspondence Bibliography 203 Preface This edition consists of the full texts of the one hundred and fifty- eight letters in the Archibald Lampman Collection of Manuscripts and Letters held in the Simon Fraser University Library. Among the letters, which in- volve a total of twenty-four correspondents, is a continuous series written by the pat to his fiancGe Maud Etnna Playter who beam his wife during the course of these letters (1885-1898). The one hundred and three letters in the series are annotated, and they form the main body of this project. The remaining letters, written by members of Lampman's family and by various literary and business associates, arc included in the appendices. The broader purpose of the edition is to make these primary sources of information concerning the poet's life and work clearly accessible to stu- htsof Lmnpman, and of Canadian literature. Since biographical material on the poet to date is scant and often less objective than mythological, such primary documents are especially valuable. A narrwer purpose of the central edition of letters to Maud is to invite Lampman scholars to reexamine the poet's romantic narratives and love poetry in light of his relationships with Maud and the "Lady" of hls later love sonnets, Katherine Waddell. The thousands of published and unpublished lines which fall into the category Lampwin affectionately called "novelettes in verse" have been largely ignored as subjects of study. The point of re- considering the long narratives is neither to justify nor invalidate critical Judgements such as that of Munro Beattie who states baldly enough that these works are "tedious" and "virtual ly unreadable."' Rather, the point is to ''~rchibaldLamp~n,~' in Our Living Tradition, 1st series, ed. Claude T. Bissell (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, lW), p. 68. elucidate both the narratives' inherent 'myths and Laqman's love affairs, and thereby reach a ful let understanding of the sensibi 1i ty at the core of a1 1 of Larqmron's poetry. There are mysteries and contradictions within the poet's body of work as there are in his life. He has been at once one of the most protected and one of the most exalted figures in Canadian literature. The pat's letters to bud yield a wide range of dlscrete data regarding his life and his work, and they record some changer in the Lampmans' rela- tionship. Their data concern the couple's donestlc hablts, their socio- awnomic position and the material quality of their lives; Lairp~urn'swork habits both as a postal clerk and as a pat; his reading and his writing; the poet's circle of literary associates and friends; his rpontansaus attitudes, including his response to criticism of his poetry; his woods and his personal idiosyncrasies; his zest for life or his lack of it; and, certainly, his state of health. The letters contain forty separate allusions to Lampman's ill health; he is bothered by a host of ailments and he does not dislike descrlb- ing them. bud is also prone to illness -- "nerves 6 heart" Lrnprrun calls it (Letter 97). bud died young, as did her husband; he was 37 (1899). she 41 (1910). There are two fleeting references to Katherine Waddell, one of which is the only concrete evidence of a meeting of her and Larrpmn out of the post office. Both references suggest that the Waddells, Kate and her mther, were at least social acquaintances of Archibald and bud. The letters trace the poet's rising, then receding hope that material and other conditions would improve for the young couple by way of his literary career. The disillusionment Lampmen felt during the middle 'nineties regard- ing the financial rewards of both his job and his art was mt probably accen- tuated by the fact that many of his friends encountered in this correspondence viii *re carving out more lucrative careers in their time, Duncan Cmpbell Scott ws working his way up to a high ranking position in government service. The painter Willlam Bryumer was receiving large cormrissions; the painter Charles lbss was building a house on the fashionable Comms, near the Playter resl- den-. Edward Thmon had moved from his editorial position on the Toronto -Globe to one of greater respons lbi1 ity on the senior staff of the Youth's Conprnfon. John Ritchie was first a lawyer, and second a playwright. Ernest -his, Lanpsun's brother-in-law, was a university professor, as was Ebses Coit Tyler. The bachelors whom the poet visits in Cbntreal in 1898 were suc- cessful doctors. The Canadians whom Lampan knom in Boston and Haw York had wde the move that Lampman would not make, and they benefited from their circle of connactions in the publishing world. The letters to Lo~lpcwnfrom Bliss batan, Charles G. D. Roberts, J. E. Collins and other literary associates (saw Appendices C and D) reflect these writers' mre active, energetic sense of self-promtion in that world. Clearly not an eager employee of the Post Office, Larapcnrn becww a second class clerk after ten years in the service. These letters suggest that he had 8 relatively high absentee rate, and relatively long vacations, including in 1898 a long leave of absence. Hunro Beattie observes that Le~~ptwrn'spostal du- ties were not onerous, that most of his letters to Edward Thorason were written on Post Office stationery during business hours, and that L8mpman may well have composed SQ poetry on his work t Host of the poet's early letters to bud are on Post Office stationery as well, and all of the letters he sent from Ottawa when he was well and working were written at the office.