MHRD-UGC ePG Pathshala - English Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Prof. Tutun Mukherjee, University of Hyderabad Paper No & Title: Canadian, Australian and South Pacific Literatures in English (Paper 07) Paper Coordinator & Affiliation: Prof. Suchorita Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur University, Kolkata Module Number & Title: Pre-Confederation Poetry (15) Content Writer's Name & Affiliation: Dr. Swagata Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University Name & Affiliation of Content Reviewer: Prof. Suchorita Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur University Name & Affiliation of Language Editor: Prof. Suchorita Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur University In this module, you are going to learn the following topics: Historical Background Background of Canadian Poetry Introduction to Pre-Confederation Poetry Biography of Oliver Goldsmith Summary of The Rising Village Biography of Joseph Howe Summary of ‘Acadia’ Biography of Charles Sangster Summary of The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay 1. Background: John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), originally an Italian navigator and explorer, started on a voyage from Bristol under the patronage of King Henry VII of England and landed on Newfoundland in 1497. In 1524, the French king Francis I sent Giovanni da Verrazzano to explore the New World. On August 5, 1583, Humphrey Gilbert of England formally took possession of Newfoundland. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded France’s first permanent colony in Canada in Quebec. The colony, called Acadia, grew slowly, reaching a population of about five thousand by 1713. Canada was then known as New France. Britain took over the southern regions along the Hudson Bay (which is at present in the United States of America). British and French tussle over domination over the North American landmass continued for another fifty years. With the end of the Seven Years War and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France was forced to give up all its territories in North America to Britain. From here on starts the British domination over the landmass of North America. However, French settlement continued. Canada eventually got divided into Canada East and Canada West – Canada East was French dominated and Canada West was English dominated. The Confederation of 1867 merged East and West Canada. The Dominion of Canada came into existence on July 1, 1867. Historically, Acadia has remained a significant name since it has been made immortalized by both Oliver Goldsmith and Joseph Howe in their poems which we shall discuss later in this module. 2. Pre-Confederation Poetry: Poetry written before 1825 and between 1825 to 1867 is known as pre-Confederation Poetry in the context of Canadian literature. The earliest works of poetry were mainly written by visitors who described the new territories in optimistic terms. The intended readership was of course the Europeans. One of the earliest works of Canadian poetry was Robert Hayman’s Quod Libets, composed in Newfoundland and published as early as 1628. Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were the most popular regions which dominated early Canadian poems. With the growth of the Anglophone community near the end of the 18th Century, more and more poems began to appear in local newspapers targeted at the local readers. Before 1825, Canadian verse was largely dominated by Neo-classical models. The heroic couplets of English poets such as Alexander Pope and Oliver Goldsmith were the major influences. The rational order of the heroic couplet was a formidable means by which the early poets affirmed and reflected a sense of governance in their environment and in themselves. Along with the heroic couplets, James Thomson’s The Seasons (1726-46) written in blank verse had also earned recognition. After 1825, the influence of Romanticism became increasingly evident. Also local subjects came to be incorporated into poetry. For example, Joseph Howe’s ‘Acadia’ and Charles Sangster’s The St.Lawrence and the Saguenay. In 1864, the first anthology of Canadian poetry in English was produced by Edward Hartley Dewart called Selections from Canadian Poets. Practically all the verses of this period were written by amateur poets. They aimed to describe the aesthetic and economic attractions of Canada, to chronicle the achievements of their colonial society and to express the spiritual and cultural aspirations of sensitive people in a new land. The most prominent and popular poem of the period was Oliver Goldsmith’s The Rising Village (1825). The other formidable poets of the period were Jacob Bailey, and the three Charleses- Charles Sangster, Charles Mair and Charles Heavysege. It was both the first book-length poem published by a native English-Canadian and the first publication in England by a Canadian poet. Goldsmith had declared that his poem was directed to Canadians interested in the history of the literature of their country. It has also been noted by certain critics that The Rising Village was the “first autobiography of a native Canadian writer”. 3. The Rising Village i. About the poet: Oliver Goldsmith (1794-1861) joined the British Navy as an Assistant Commissary-General in 1810 and was posted in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1848 he was transferred to Hong Kong where he suffered a sun stroke and decided to take up a five-year posting at St.John’s, Newfoundland. It was while at St.John’s that Goldsmith decided to pay a visit to his ancestral homeland, Ireland. A visit to Lissoy, the familial home of the Goldsmiths resulted in the publication of The Rising Village. The poem should be viewed as the most ambitious project of an occasional poet. Goldsmith had written an opening address for local amateur theatre group formed by officers connected with the garrison at Halifax. In the Address, he wrote – “Encouraged by some friends I wrote a poem called The Rising Village which was published by John Sharpe in 1825 in London. The celebrated author of ‘The Deserted Village’ (1770) had pathetically displayed the anguish of his countrymen on being forced, from various causes, to quit their native plains, endeared to them by so many delightful recollections, and to seek refuge in regions at that time little known…in my poem, I, therefore endeavoured to describe the sufferings they experienced in a new and uncultivated country, the difficulties they surmounted, the rise and progress of a village, and the prospects which promised happiness to its future possessors.” However, The Rising Village was received with undue criticism in England after its publication. Although future researchers have failed to find any adverse comments about the poem in print, Goldsmith himself had recounted that his first serious effort did not meet with the success that he had expected. According to him, it had been criticized with undue severity and condemned cruelly. Whatever had been the nature of the alleged criticism, it did not prevent Goldsmith from reprinting the poem in February 1826 in The Canadian Review and Magazine. In 1834, The Rising Village was published in New Brunswick after further revision. ii. Summary of the poem: The poem was written between March 1822 and 1824. The central concern of The Rising Village is the control of nature, both physical and human nature, or to say it in other words, outer and inner nature. From the beginning to the end, the poem describes cyclical movements wherein control is gained and lost, regained and strenuously maintained. The control, again, refers to both physical and moral control. As the pioneers settle in the new land, the poet suspects an encroaching chaos in the physical nature of Canada as well as in the moral nature of his neighbours. ‘Nature’ carries multiple meanings- a physical nature which can be beneficent as well as malevolent and the human nature which again can be both benevolent and malevolent. The poet speaks of nature’s ruggedness to signify the harsh reality of the wilderness faced by the pioneers, but he employs phrases such as “by nature nourished” to convey his understanding of and faith in nature as a benevolent mother. Physical nature is for Goldsmith both a terrifying wilderness (inclusive of Indians and wild beasts) and a nourishing nature in abstract. In the human sphere, nature is also two sided- there is the virtuous nature of the civilized man, the product of controlled instinct. On the other side, there is the instinctual human nature, the human equivalent of the wilderness, a darker entity that must be controlled if civilization is to progress. Goldsmith’s achievement is the depiction in general terms of the cyclical pattern of defeat and victory in the pioneer’s control over ‘nature’. In the initial lines, what appeals most is the orderliness of the Old World. In Britain, everything and everyone occupies its proper place in the social hierarchy- “Chaste and splendid…scenes that lie/ Beneath the circle of Britannia’s sky.” (27-28) The word chaste suggests Goldsmith’s moralism and his association of virtue with social order and economic prosperity. The commercial and agrarian interests are viewed necessarily as compatible for the sake of the colonies’ prosperity. The first imposition of order on the wilds of Acadia culminates in the triumph of agriculture – “And where the forest once its foliage spread,/ the golden corn triumphant waves its head” (71-72) The initial battle is thus won, the wilderness has been controlled and transformed into civilization. Now, the pioneer finds time to relax. Just when he has started to think that his control is supreme, “new ills arise” (79). Now begins the struggle against human nature – “the murderous band of Indians” (85). In this second phase, it was necessary to triumph over the “savage Indians” with civilization. The triumph of the axe and agriculture must be followed by “arts of culture”. Hence comes the tavern, the country store, the doctor, the church and the schoolhouse. The final challenge to the rising village’s prosperity is expressed in the tale of two village youths, Albert and Flora.