COLOnial Poetry 1693 - late 19th century
Learning Goals:
I am learning to...
I am learning to...
Henry Kelsey: "Now Reader Read"Henry Kelsey worked for the Hudson Bay Company as a fur trader his entire life. As a young man, he spent two years exploring the prairies of Canada with Aboriginal guides (1691-93). He went further west, perhaps as far as Alberta, as any European would for the next fifty years.
Kelsey kept a journal for his employers, and an appendix listing Aboriginal beliefs and superstitions. He also composed a poem, the first English poem in Canada, for his employers: "Now Reader Read." Key aspects of Kelsey's poem:
1) He uses "I" in nearly every line of the first half of the poem, reminding his likely British readers unfamiliar with Canada that he is an authority to be trusted. 2) He is concerned with documenting the many resources of the prairies: wood, lakes, and animals (fur and food) for his expanding company. 3) He is concerned with keeping the peace among the many Aboriginal communities because it will create a better climate for trade with the HBC. 4) He twice refers to the land as "their countrye" - meaning the Aboriginal communities - notion that the land was free for the taking is not present here. 5) He writes a British name (Sir Edward Deering) on a cross made from wood indigenous to Canada to claim the land for the HBC. This is a very important moment in the poem, as argued by D. M. R. Bentley here, as it brings together the British economic framework, the Christian framework, and the indigenous Canadian material. |
The garrison mentalityNorthtop Frye, famous Canadian literary critic, suggested that "the garrison mentality" was a defining feature of Canadian literature. Garrisons were military outposts scattered across the Canadian landscape during early settlement and fur trading years.
Are you a fighter or a deserter? Colonial poetry Note1789: Thomas Cary's "Abram's Plains"
This long poem was written thirty years after the Battle of Abraham's Plains and the British defeat of the French. The poem celebrated the transformed land: cleared forests, new farms, new industries - all brought about by British peace. This poem was one of the first written for a local audience and dedicated to inspiring local pride. 1825: Oliver Goldsmith's "The Rising Village"
The poem tells of the suffering and difficulties of colonists and their increasing success. This poem is especially significant because of its use of the Four Stages Theory. This theory supposed that man moved through 4 stages: from primitive; to having rights to property and land; to enjoying an abundance of food; to finding an increase of leisure time; to becoming learned, cultured, and "civilized." Key Developments in Canadian Literature: 1) celebrating local achievements, people, and history 2) idealizing the devastated Aboriginal communities through the trope of the "noble savage," who was depicted as pure and not corrupted before the European presence. Many hero epics were written by Euro-Canadians about Aboriginal leaders: for example, John Richardson's "Tecumseh" in 1828 celebrated the Shawnee hero of the War of 1812. |
isabella valancy crawford's "Malcolm's Katie: A love story"
Isabella Valancy Crawford was one of the very first women in Canada to support herself and her family by writing.
Her long poems, especially "Malcolm's Katie: A Love Story," have been revisited by Canadian writers and literary critics since 1890, and read through many critical lenses, including feminist, environmental, mythological, Marxist, and more.
Peruse the Prezi on Crawford's life and cultural context, as well as critical context of the poem, and questions to guide your reading.
Her long poems, especially "Malcolm's Katie: A Love Story," have been revisited by Canadian writers and literary critics since 1890, and read through many critical lenses, including feminist, environmental, mythological, Marxist, and more.
Peruse the Prezi on Crawford's life and cultural context, as well as critical context of the poem, and questions to guide your reading.
your thoughts: the Notable and noteworthy aspects
1) Crawford herself: a female poet in the city of Toronto, writing to support herself and her mother
2) Typical Victorian heroine / hero: blonde, physically attractive = inner virtue but working within Garrison mentality (fighters vs. deserters)
3) Allusions to Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, Othello
4) Blending of Aboriginal solar mythology with the settler narrative and with Christian framework of Adam, Eve, and Eden (although the only "real-life" Aboriginal figure we meet is the "half-breed lad" who is assisting Max with the clear-cutting and nation-building of Canada...)
5) Nation-building: visions of the future and the pseudo marriage vows between the Axe and his labourer
6) Consistent use of personification to make the Canadian landscape a distinct character in the poem
2) Typical Victorian heroine / hero: blonde, physically attractive = inner virtue but working within Garrison mentality (fighters vs. deserters)
3) Allusions to Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, Othello
4) Blending of Aboriginal solar mythology with the settler narrative and with Christian framework of Adam, Eve, and Eden (although the only "real-life" Aboriginal figure we meet is the "half-breed lad" who is assisting Max with the clear-cutting and nation-building of Canada...)
5) Nation-building: visions of the future and the pseudo marriage vows between the Axe and his labourer
6) Consistent use of personification to make the Canadian landscape a distinct character in the poem
"The Woman Question" - Victorian debates about gender roles
The Victorian Era spans the reign of Queen Victoria in England (1833-1876). She was the most visibly employed and public woman in the British Empire, yet she strongly advocated the domestic roles of wife and mother to be the ideal station for women. It was a paradox for many women: how to be both independent, powerful, involved in politics and economy, yet still be the virtuous wife and mother raising good little British subjects?
At this time, there were a number of debates about gender roles that stemmed from "The Woman Question." There was a surplus of 1 million single women in Britain who had no hope of snaring an eligible bachelor and becoming a respectable "Angel of the House," as described in the poem by Coventry Patmore.
Petitions for women's suffrage reached British Parliament as early as 1840, although, like Canadian women, they did not get the vote until the close of WWI. In 1870, women finally began to gain rights of property ownership in the Married Women's Property Act.
The Industrial Revolution at this time also changed circumstances for women, as it brought the opportunity of employment and economic independence to women. At this time, the middle class ideal was to have a male breadwinner, allowing the woman to stay at home and raise children; thus, they would seem more like the landed, wealthy elite. Women in the workplace challenged these relatively new middle class values.
Several spoke out or wrote about The Woman Question. Some argued that female power resided in the domestic (or private) sphere, where a woman could influence her husband for morally and spiritually superior purposes, and therefore they did not require an education; others decried the practice of educating young boys but preparing young women for a marriage that may never happen - effectively rendering them useless to society, and, like a child, dependent on some male provider. Still others felt that women were like animals, to be bridled and controlled in case their animal natures took over and ruined them.
The literature at this time, throughout the Empire and in the new Dominion of Canada features heroines that conform or challenge the Victorian ideals of femininity and gender roles. Katie, of Crawford's "Malcolm's Katie," is a complex case study.
At this time, there were a number of debates about gender roles that stemmed from "The Woman Question." There was a surplus of 1 million single women in Britain who had no hope of snaring an eligible bachelor and becoming a respectable "Angel of the House," as described in the poem by Coventry Patmore.
Petitions for women's suffrage reached British Parliament as early as 1840, although, like Canadian women, they did not get the vote until the close of WWI. In 1870, women finally began to gain rights of property ownership in the Married Women's Property Act.
The Industrial Revolution at this time also changed circumstances for women, as it brought the opportunity of employment and economic independence to women. At this time, the middle class ideal was to have a male breadwinner, allowing the woman to stay at home and raise children; thus, they would seem more like the landed, wealthy elite. Women in the workplace challenged these relatively new middle class values.
Several spoke out or wrote about The Woman Question. Some argued that female power resided in the domestic (or private) sphere, where a woman could influence her husband for morally and spiritually superior purposes, and therefore they did not require an education; others decried the practice of educating young boys but preparing young women for a marriage that may never happen - effectively rendering them useless to society, and, like a child, dependent on some male provider. Still others felt that women were like animals, to be bridled and controlled in case their animal natures took over and ruined them.
The literature at this time, throughout the Empire and in the new Dominion of Canada features heroines that conform or challenge the Victorian ideals of femininity and gender roles. Katie, of Crawford's "Malcolm's Katie," is a complex case study.