French Acadien Poetry To English Canadian Poetry - Essay Example

French Acadien Poetry To English Canadian Poetry These famous lines from An Autumn Landscape by one of Canada’s finest English language poets – Archibald Lampman truly symbolize the literary and artistic genius of the poets of the nineteenth century. It further reaffirms the fact that landscape poetry formed a dominant topic where visual perspectives often described the various manners in which land was perceived by these literary scholars. The perspective of the authors and poets in literature, customarily suggests the manner in which the subject is perceived by the writer. The text or the lyrical expression intended to express might occasionally refer portray a visually strong thought or ideology, while at times it might make use of verbal pictures which strongly offer a visual perspective of the poet’s vision of things around him/her. This essay on poetry discusses and analyses the various viewpoints and investigates into the causes and intentions of the writers of a bygone era for including visual imagery and their predominant description of landscapes especially as witnessed in the French Acadien and English Canadian Poetry. It also intends to carry out an in depth analysis of the basic differences and / or similarities in these two forms of literature. The English Canadian poetry was mainly written by visitors to describe the new territories that they ventured into and explored and was mainly targeted at the European audiences. Landscape poetry by far supersedes the other topics in depiction in the literary works of the old times and was one of the most favorite subjects because of its ability to blend both the visual as well as mental perspectives in the most emblematic fashion. One of the other most significant reason for depiction and popularity of use of landscapes as a dominant theme in Canadian English poetry is the fact that the Canadian culture has been largely influenced by the country’s geographical boundaries and the experiences of the travelers who migrated and settled in the exotic land. How sweet it is – To gain some easy hill’s ascending height, Where all the landscape brightens with delight, And boundless prospects stretched on every side, Proclaims the country’s industry and pride Here the broad marsh extends its open plain, Until its limits touch the distant main” (Oliver Goldsmith, 2008) One of the other prominent reasons for including landscapes as their dominant form of literary expression was that it offered the poets with a visual prospect for the settlers which communicated the desires of the settlers of hope and fulfillment. Hence when the dreams of the settlers to secure a homeland for them would be achieved the forests that were described as gloomy and fearful would eventually transform into a welcoming landscape with lush green lawns, flowing rivers and beautiful trees. The visual panorama depicted in Canadian poetry reveals their attitude towards the land which was inspired by their longing for a homeland as well as their cuture. The obsession / preoccupation of the literarily scholars with the usage of landscapes in their works of art, is reminiscent of an experience of a besieged human psyche struggling to withhold its candor in the face of an alien, embracing nature. Canadian poetry has been, since long, obligated to the conventions of the nineteenth century British poetry wherein romanticism reverberated as a prominent theme reflecting a landscape, which is discerned as reflective of their minds and psyche which was full of turmoil and suffering. But the portrayal of landscape in their poetry offered a refreshing change, a haven that offered solace from such existential concerns. In a romantic perspective, the depiction of land replete with its panoramic views is suggestive of the magnificence of nature’s creation which is also perceived as a substantive source of endurance to soothe. The fixation for scenic visuals which originated during the eighteenth century is attributable to an age that starved for infinity. In the words of Joseph Addison, as depicted on The Pleasures of Imagination: “The mind of man naturally hates everything that looks like a restraint upon it, and is apt to fancy itself under a sort of confinement, when the sight is pent up in a narrow compass, and shortened on every side by the neighborhood of walls or mountains. On the contrary, a spacious horizon is an image of liberty, where the eye has room to range abroad, to expatiate at large on the immensity of its views, and to lose itself amidst the variety of objects that offer themselves to its observation (Pleasures of Imagination, 2008).” In Carman’s panorama there is hardly any mention of a ceaseless horizon wherein the poem describes clouds which tend to restrict our vision and direct it towards the earth. The following lines from the Morning in The Hills by Carman Bliss is abound with description of various forest trees, mountains, valleys and streams. Hemlock and aspen, chestnut, beech, and fir Go tiering down from storm-worn crest and ledge, While in the hollows of the dark ravine See the red road emerge, then disappear Towards the wide plain and fertile valley lands. The Canadian English poetry in the nineteenth century used conventional forms and descriptive metaphors stressing on the fearful inexplicable or apathetic forms of nature with which the English language was often associated. The Canadian poets have unfailingly metamorphosised the literary inheritance of the English language to enable it to communicate their perceptions of the vastness of the country. The English speaking Canadians deliberately conceptualized their literary projects with a view to retain their British origins simultaneously giving birth to a literature that extensively depicted Canada. The appealing visual convention of the eighteenth century Canadian literature is, even today, reminiscent of artistic portrayal of scenic landscapes of the country. The emphasis on the vivid narrative persists in sustaining the majestic view of the natural world to which the poets of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century persistently subscribed. The sheer magnificence and picturesque attractiveness of the Canadian landscape evokes soaring sentiments which inspired the formation of gallant and exuberant appeal of an epic stature. Yet, on the other hand it reflects the weaknesses of human nature their anxiety and reclusiveness when encountered by an unresponsive and often antagonistic universe that denied being brought into subjection. “Out in a world of death far to the northward lying, Under the sun and the moon, under the dusk and the day; Under the glimmer of stars and the purple of sunsets dying; Wan and waste and white, stretch the great lakes away” (William Wilfred Campbell, 2008) In Wilfred Campbell’s The Winter Lakes the poet describes the panoramic view from the sky to the lakes but the poetry is highly characteristic of the human mind’s journey rather than depicting the actual physical movement. In the landscape poetry of the nineteenth century the recent trends towards the narrators perspectives has several national connotations that depicts the happiness as well as woes of dwelling in a nation which is either too vast or too empty. Northrop Frye, one of most majestic intellectuals and thinkers in the history of Canada, suggests that the Canadian English poetry unfailingly portrayed the disputed relationship between the Canadian artists and their visceral surroundings and to the manner in which this milieu encountered the literature of his country lending a cynical tone to their works of art. He further suggests that the basic underlying difficulty faced by the Canadian poets was acknowledging the glory and imposing characteristic of nature as well as its overwhelming grandeur in contrast to the severity of the country’s climate. In the midst of such wilderness mankind felt vulnerable and exposed and hence, as depicted in the man versus nature backdrop, man depicted to perceive the physical world as an antagonistic force that craved for his obliteration. Such distrustful tendency towards nature suggests that rather than being a foundation of an idealist inspiration the depiction of landscape in Canadian poetry largely highlighted the detrimental characteristic of the poet’s personality and attitude. Frye remarks on Canadian poetry, as mentioned below, suggests the similarity of thoughts and portrayal of ideologies in both forms of art – painting as well as poetry that largely centered on landscapes: “Canadian poetry is at its best a poetry of incubus and cauchemar, the source of which is the unusually exposed contact of the poet with nature which Canada provides. Nature is seen by the poet, first as unconsciousness, then as a kind of existence which is cruel and meaningless, then as the source of the cruelty and subconscious stampeding within the human mind (Frye, Denham, 2004)”. The Acadiens, descendants of the seventeenth century French colonists largely remained geographically marginalized and lived in isolation till the mid twentieth century. During this period music, arts and literature were their only forms of artistic expression which gained momentum especially during the mid nineteenth century. The Acadien literature comprises of a celebration of its landscape and the distressed history of Acadia, the estrangement of its marginal culture and the quest for individuality as is evident from the works of the famous Acadien poets of those times including the likes of Ronald Despres and Gerald Leblanc. The authors and poets of the Acadien offered vivid descriptions of landscapes described poetically simultaneously calling for historical remembrance. Acadien poet Joseph Howe described its landscape in the spring in The Seasons comparing it to the renewal of life and beauty suggesting hope and gladness of human spirit (Bentley, 1994, Pp176). The following passage from Howe’s Acadia describes in the most fascinating manner the artistic beauty of the trees in the forests and the beautiful flowers as well as the frozen lake. “The blushing flowers The groves of stately pine The glassy lakes that in the sunbeam shine The swelling sea The hills that heavenward soar The mountain stream, meandering to the shore” (Joseph Howe, 2008) The Acadien poetry similar to the Canadian English poetry contained picturesque narratives as opposed to dramatic or romantic narratives as observed in the American or British literature during that period. The poets could thus be labeled as naturalists owing to their obsession of including descriptions of the grand visuals and imagery that their country offered. Their love of nature is one of the most prominent characteristic that could be observed in both – the Acadien poems as well as English Canadian poems. The beginning of the twentieth century marked the emergence of a host of writers and poets who primarily concentrated on landscape poetry with a view to strengthening the bond between the inhabitants and their ancestral land. Owing to their fixation with landscapes and the elaborate descriptions of nature in their works of art these poets came to be known as the writers of les terroir. Their fascination with the beauty of their land was apparent from their literature since most of their poems were highly influenced by it which is a representative of the epitome of their fondness for independence and wilderness. In conclusion, while these poems emphasize the grandeur of their land, they also display with similar zest their annoyance or dissentment towards their alienation. The poems written mainly during the nineteenth century depict the cultural and political turmoil that both the English Canadians as well as the Acadiens went through which were expressed through their poetries by accentuating the visual imagery in a symbolic fashion where varied emotions ranging from death, love, grief and happiness were expressed through the medium of landscapes. Bibliography Lampman, Archibald (2008). An Autumn Landscape, Canadian Poetry Archive, viewed: November 7, 2008, from: < http://collectionscanada.ca/canvers-bin/entry?entry_nbr=403&l=0&page_rows=10&clctn_nbr=1> Pleasures of Civilization, Spectator No. 411, June 21, 1712, viewed: November 8, 2008, from: Frye, N., Denham R. D., (2004). Collected works of Northrop Frye, University of Toronto Press, Pp. 1 – 38 Bentley, D. M. R. (1994). Mimic Fires: Accounts of Early Long Poems on Canada, McGill Queen’s Press, Pp.176. Joseph Howe, (2008). Joseph Howe’s Acadia: Document of Divided Sensibility, viewed: November 8, 2008, from: http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol10/gingell-beckmann.htm#bk15 Oliver Goldsmith: The Rising Village, viewed: November 8, 2008, from: http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/eng%20274e/goldsmith.htm William Wilfred Campbell, The Winter Lakes, viewed: November 9, 2008, from: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html/1807/4350/poem391.html Read More