To Possess the Land - by James Deahl (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

To Possess The Land is an anthology of 16 of Canada's most important Confederation Poets, with bio notes and bibliography. Their poetry has been out-of-print for decades. Among the goals of this anthology is an investigation of the climate of opinion in Canada in the years following Confederation. The period of 1880 - 1920 is studied. By reading these poems, readers will understand the romantic dreams that were common during the early decades of Canada, dreams that were ended by World War I. After the war, Canada became a different place.

Review Quotes

It is highly appropriate that this companion volume to James Deahl's The Confederation Poets: The Founding of a Canadian Poetry, 1880 to the First World War (Guernica Editions, 2022) has been published now. At this time, the Trump regime is seeking to sound the death knell of "that True North," which was first seen by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the mosaic of Confederation, as expressed in his famous post-Confederation salute to "that True North." It is essential that we "Ring out the false, ring in the true." We can do this by means of the sounding of the poetic summons of our land's cultural ancestors. An analysis of an anthology of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canadian poetry in English, such as this collection provided by Deahl, makes a good first retelling.