Sir Charles G.

D Roberts impact on Canadas National Literature

Shan Siddiqui May 25 2012 Dr. Alex Hart ENGL 222

1860-1945

Tantramar Revisited (originally published as Westmorland revisited)

Summers and summers have come, and gone with the flight of the swallow; Sunshine and thunder have been, storm, and winter, and frost; Many and many a sorrow has all but died from remembrance, Many a dream of joy fall'n in the shadow of pain. Hands of chance and change have marred, or moulded, or broken, Busy with spirit or flesh, all I most have adored; Even the bosom of Earth is strewn with heavier shadows, -Only in these green hills, aslant to the sea, no change! Here where the road that has climbed from the inland valleys and woodlands, Dips from the hill-tops down, straight to the base of the hills, -10 Here, from my vantage-ground, I can see the scattering houses, Stained with time, set warm in orchards, meadows, and wheat, Dotting the broad bright slopes outspread to southward and eastward, Wind-swept all day long, blown by the south-east wind. Skirting the sunbright uplands stretches a riband of meadow, Shorn of the labouring grass, bulwarked well from the sea, Fenced on its seaward border with long clay dykes from the turbid Surge and flow of the tides vexing the Westmoreland shores. Yonder, toward the left, lie broad the Westmoreland marshes, -Miles on miles they extend, level, and grassy, and dim, Clear from the long red sweep of flats to the sky in the distance, Save for the outlying heights, green-rampired Cumberland Point; Miles on miles outrolled, and the river-channels divide them, -Miles on miles of green, barred by the hurtling gusts.

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Miles on miles beyond the tawny bay is Minudie. There are the low blue hills; villages gleam at their feet. Nearer a white sail shines across the water, and nearer Still are the slim, grey masts of fishing boats dry on the flats. Ah, how well I remember those wide red flats, above tide-mark Pale with scurf of the salt, seamed and baked in the sun! 30 Well I remember the piles of blocks and ropes, and the net-reels Wound with the beaded nets, dripping and dark from the sea! Now at this season the nets are unwound; they hang from the rafters Over the fresh-stowed hay in upland barns, and the wind Blows all day through the chinks, with the streaks of sunlight, and sways them Softly at will; or they lie heaped in the gloom of a loft.

Now at this season the reels are empty and idle; I see them Over the lines of the dykes, over the gossiping grass. Now at this season they swing in the long strong wind, thro' the lonesome Golden afternoon, shunned by the foraging gulls. 40 Near about sunset the crane will journey homeward above them; Round them, under the moon, all the calm night long, Winnowing soft grey wings of marsh-owls wander and wander, Now to the broad, lit marsh, now to the dusk of the dike. Soon, thro' their dew-wet frames, in the live keen freshness of morning, Out of the teeth of the dawn blows back the awakening wind. Then, as the blue day mounts, and the low-shot shafts of the sunlight Glance from the tide to the shore, gossamers jewelled with dew Sparkle and wave, where late sea-spoiling fathoms of drift-net Myriad-meshed, uploomed sombrely over the land. 50 Well I remember it all. The salt, raw scent of the margin; While, with men at the windlass, groaned each reel, and the net, Surging in ponderous lengths, uprose and coiled in its station; Then each man to his home, -- well I remember it all! Yet, as I sit and watch, this present peace of the landscape, -Stranded boats, these reels empty and idle, the hush, One grey hawk slow-wheeling above yon cluster of haystacks, -More than the old-time stir this stillness welcomes me home. Ah, the old-time stir, how once it stung me with rapture, -Old-time sweetness, the winds freighted with honey and salt! Yet will I stay my steps and not go down to the marshland, -Muse and recall far off, rather remember than see, -Lest on too close sight I miss the darling illusion, Spy at their task even here the hands of chance and change. Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts 1886 (Roberts 195)

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This is the landscape of the Tantramar marshes It is an estuary of fertile soils, shore birds and dykes and levees not unlike Louisiana where the original inhabitants (the Acadians) were deported to two generations before Roberts wrote about this place

http://nbcoveredbridges.blogspot.ca/2007/03/wheatoncovered-bridge.html

The Tantramar is also known as Westmorland. The original Southwest Corner of NB was called Beaubassin by the Acadian Francophone colonists (Adams 4) Westmorland: district in England where many later Loyalist settlers had ancestry (Adams 3) Tantramar: Acadian placename for the River that creates the estuary at the Atlantic Coast in Douglas county NB

Interpreting love and landscape in Sir C.G.D. Roberts Tantramar Revisited Tantramar Revisited imparts a profound appreciation for place and time contained within the authors memory. Roberts love for the land goes beyond familiarity as it undergoes change for which increases its value to him. The poem means for us to love Canada as our own individual places of bravery, beauty and love; to revisit, remember, and always carry great meaning no matter what changes we face. The speaker begins with an emphasis on continuity and the cycles of nature as a background to temporary human ambition. Human love for and ultimate impact on the land is a challenging proposition considering his place and efforts confronting an endless natural world. Literally nature is huge, daunting and covering vast distances, over space and deep time. By making use of repetition including Summers and summers and Miles on Miles (lines 1 and 20, 24-27), the author is reinforcing a reverent tone. The deeper meaning of repeating I remember in lines 29, 51, and 63 is to convince the reader that of perpetual cycles of reliance on and return to natural systems are changes that must be inscribed in human memory. The poem continues to explain that human efforts are temporary and limited by the minute scale of what humans can do in the face of natural order. Nature is pervasive and is always threatening to reassert itself as the bulwarks allude to in line 16. Natures legacy is not to be ascendant over humanity but to test and challenge us. The central image of the poem is isolation which is stated by removing all mention of people except men at the windlass (line 52). The initial consonants of the words; divide, scattering, stillness, distance and stranded are hard and cacophonous. The harsh sounds contribute to a negative connotation of isolation. Contrast with the melodious tone of voice where people gather in his home and meadows and wheat (line 11/55). Adversity is part of the Human experience, constant in living within the Canadian landscape. People have to survive, stick together , build and remember it all. The human made road is part of the landscape that intrudes upon natures design and must climb to get where it needs to go (line 9). The speaker immediately adds I can see the scattering houses conveying a heroic but tenuous human existence on the landscape (line 10). Despite the challenges that people face, they love their chance to create and value the concessions they win in the battle with nature. Individuals manifest love for and remembrance of their travails as physical scars and wounds like badges of honour. The speaker alludes to nature as a sculptor or blacksmith pounding a lump of durable human material into shape (line 5). How people are affected by the effects of nature and how they change is a physical as well as a metaphoric transformation.

Nature opposes human progress with storms and strong wind conspiring against human victims (line 2,14, 25,35,39). Furthermore, the ocean is personified as an intruder on the Westmorland shore turbid and vexing in lines 17/18 to illustrate the malevolence and restrained violence of nature. Although for all its vicissitudes, nature provides the sustenance for our lives. While the first three stanzas of the lyric poem describe Canadas humanity and its nature in collective opposition, the next three stanzas nuance the speakers recollection. The poem reaches turning point in stanza four because the speaker reconciles the human limitations with their desire to benefit from natures caprices. Recognizing beauty is a characteristic of humanitys fascination with its own place in the nature. Our memories are the only truly lasting contribution to the impermanence of people, communities and nations. The beauty that is found within our natural landscape and our struggle to prosper despite the difficulties and limitations of our existence is bravery of a very limited kind. In line 40 the speaker unveils the metaphor of a Golden afternoon as a pleasant image and conciliation over mans conflict with nature. The metaphor of finding gold in human triumph over adversity is in fact an extended metaphor evidenced in lines 27/28 where villages gleam and [a white sail] shines. Humanity has a self-interest to persevere and a drive to create memory and experiences from trials even if they are not particularly memorable or good experiences. The speaker is not ambiguous when choosing figurative language to denote the sunshine as a welcome friend as opposed to the notion of time as a gloom and stain (lines 12 and 36). Lines 45/46 remind us that the pleasant surroundings and peaceful respite can quickly reverse at natures whim since [the] live keen freshness of morning/[emerges]Out of the teeth on the dawn The poem evokes more than a specific place, but a set of memories all of us have about natural beauty and love we can all relate to. I think that the author created this poem to attest to the love he has for Canadas land and its people. Line 32 describes mundane fishing nets as beaded clearly preferring to evoke beauty from the functional business of survival. Lines 48 and 49 echo this sentiment with fishing nets described as gossamers jeweled with dew/Sparkle and wave These artifacts of people are really a personification of their creators poignant with beauty and love. The value of reprieve from the challenges of life on a beautiful day, or in a beautiful memory is quantified in line 56 when the speaker specifies Present peace of the landscape. The opening and closing of the poem with the Hands of chance and change acknowledge and appreciate how we truly interface with nature (line 5/64). The best way to overcome adversity and truly belong as Canadians is to love our landscape and remember how we change it and most importantly how it changes us.

Career Highlights
Roberts was best known for poetry but he was also; A university educator, Tireless international (and national) speaker promoter of Canadian literature
Roberts in Vancouver 1929 http://www.vancouv erarchives.ca/tags/ poetry/

Professional author WWI volunteer soldier Woodsman & outdoor enthusiast (Adams 23)

Biography

1880s -1907 Family life & Canadian life

Son of Anglican minister G Roberts (Adams 4) Learned French under Francis Rivet in Nova Scotia (Adams 17) Mentored by George Parkin but found his intellectual tradition ultraconservative (Adams 30) Spent most of the 1880s in Windsor Nova Scotia and sympathized with Acadian culture despite the attitude of Aristocratic Loyalist community boasted being the most aristocratic British society outside of Britain (Adams 37)

1912- 1925 WWI and European high society

Roberts was a fluent French speaker and although Anglican, he was a Canadian cultural ambassador of sorts in Europe Publishing of his prose took off in Europe and he spent much time with other Canadian ex-pats He had limited contact with Canadian politics outside of Central Canada, but was well integrated with the other confederation poets and literati

1930-1943 WARNING: Modernismlead to Reigns Nationalism can

serious problems like when European nations consolidated their national ambitions with their allies resulting in WWI

: Please see the video clip link at the bottom of the page to see what excesses After his wartime experience, he spent time touring of violence that Canada including a long stint of Cross Canada nationalist driven speaking tours including Vancouver, Calgary and competition can Winnipeg (Adams 150 & 164) result in All Quiet on the Western front (1930) WWI clip

http://youtu.be/Ciq9ts02ci4?hd=1

Style and influences

Canadian Modernist describes Sir C.G. D. Roberts best In his efforts to make poetry and prose relatable to the place, voice and landscape of the people of Canada.

Intellectual growth out of Romanticism: the preponderance on emotion, exploration of feeling and notions of the sublime and classic virtue in opposition to industrialization, urban growth and massive technological, economic and political change Esp Keats, Woodsworth, Shelley (Roberts 146)
Distinguished from Transcendentalism: freethinking and reactionary movement against structures of absolute law, religion and organization. A belief in individualized goodness and natural systems of order and humanitys role in accessing the divine in the everyday. Some undercurrents of social Darwinism and rejection of class based disadvantage/advantages informed Transcendentalism (New 89) Esp Ralph Waldo Emmerson (Roberts 146)

Movement out of Romanticism into Modernism

A clear difference between US, British and Canadian voices despite the fact that both the US and Canada share much dominant Loyalist American Stock and all three are descended from one source intellectually and practically (Roberts 144) Creating a unique Canadian flavour in their writing, commentary and collaboration with each other At and shortly after confederation Roberts was part of a movement that was starting out at a defining moment of the Canadian experience but ironically many left Canada for many years in doing so

Romanticism

Battle of the plains of Abraham www.Britishbattles.com

Modernism

American Gothic ww.Ranker.com

The late 19th Century can be called the age of loyalties

National Identities were forming, the US had recently suffered a Civil war Canadas East, West, and Centre regions had ambiguous links to each other (New 120) 1800 Chinese labourers had arrived in BC by 1871 which had a total population of 58 000 (New 128) Tantramar revisited described a site that witnessed the removal of Acadian Catholics and settlement of loyal Anglo Protestants

Wide angle: World events

Modernism and the emergence of a National literature in Canada coincided with traumatic worldwide social, economic, political and technological changes; South African/California/Klondike Gold rushes 1850-1870 Settlement along the Oregon Trail and military build-up at Esquimalt Regional identities (maritime, Loyalist, French Canadian) along with the Canadian Pacific Railroad 1881-1885 Growth of the West, rebellion in Rivere Rouge and the RCMP 1873 (New 79) Canadian Experiences in the US & overseas (like Roberts Cousin Bliss Carman) Our war: Canadian contribution to WWI 1914-1918

Does late 19th Century Canada include us?

Chinese workers on the CPR circa 1883 www.BCarchives.bc.ca

Literary works
Roberts was a 2nd generation Canadian, significant since most authors before him were foreign born and did not identify with Canada the same way he did Sustained changes to the status quo informed his early works as sentimentalism was on its way out and regional literature had existed for some time Canadian literature was either British or French vs Canadian proper, this he understood in his analyses of Acadian romances Met with Oscar Wilde in 1882 and was tutored by students of Longfellows literary and intellectual tradition (Adams 27)

Reception and criticism

Criticized for imbuing all of Canada with an Anglo-protestant norm (New 83) Quick to adopt Canadian specific language and terms such as voyageur, muskeg, lacrosse, bois-brule, sault and riding (electoral district) (New 87) Held on to the memory of Acadia as a theme of Canada lost and Canada intellectually reformed through literature (New 96) Wrote prose reconciling savagery and conflict in nature and sought a Modern vision to humanize and rationalize human interaction with landscape (New 113) bridged between a world of classic-inspired mythology and new urban landscapes needing an urban mythology (New 120)

Questions
Why does Nature play such a predominant role in C G D Roberts works? Because of the growth of Canadian regionalism, Why not loyalty, religion and politics? During Roberts lifetime, Quebec had been in existence for a quarter millennia. However Nationalism was just emerging as a political force. What effect did this Nationalism have on his literature? On world literature? Is Nationalism reconcilable with community building? Does a national literature create a shared sense of purpose among Canadians?

Charles G.D. Roberts Literary career 1880 1943 Poetry

Orion and Other Poems (1880) In Divers Tones (1886) Songs of the Common Day (1893) The Book of the Native (1896) New York Nocturnes (1898) The Book of the Rose (1903) Poems: New Complete Edition (1907) New Poems (1919) The Vagrant of Time (1927) The Iceberg and other Poems (1934) Selected Poems (1936) Canada Speaks of Britain and Other Poems of the War (1941)

prose
The Raid From Beausjour, and How the Carter Boys Lifted the Mortgage: Two Stories of Acadie (1894) Reube Dare's Shad Boat: A Tale of the Tide country (1895) Earth's Enigmas: A Book of Animal Nature and Life (1896) The Forge in the Forest; Being the Narrative of the Acadian Ranger, Jean Le Mer (1896) A Sister to Evangeline; Being the Story of Yvonne de Lamourie (1898) By the Marshes of Minas (1900) The Heart of the Ancient Wood (1900) The Kindred of the Wild (1902)

Kings in Exile (1909)

Neighbours Unknown (1911) More Kindred of the Wild (1911) Babes of the Wild (1912) Feet of the Furtive (1912) Hoof and Claw (1914) The Secret Trails (1914) The Ledge on the Bald Face (1918)

more prose
Some Animal Stories (1921) Widsdom of the Wilderness (1922) More Animal Stories (1922) They Who Walk in the Wild (1924) Further Animal Stories (1936)

translations
(Roberts was fluent in French most of his lifetime) Les Anciens Canadiens, by Philippe Aubert de Gasp (1863)
National library of Canada. www.nlc.ca/poetry/bios/cgdroberts

Works Cited

Adams, John Coldwell. Sir Charles God Damn: The Life of Sir Charles G. D. Roberts. Toronto, ON: Toronto UP, 1986. All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front - Youtube, 2012. 2012. Web 20 May 2012. Bennett, Donna, and Russell Brown, eds, An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. 3rd ed. Don mills, ON: Oxford, 2010. Flag of New Brunswick - New Brunswick www1.gnb.ca, Government of New Brunswick, Canada. 2012. Web 20 May 2012. Hogg, Robert, ed, An English Canadian Poetics: Vol 1 The Confederation Poets.

Vancouver: BC, Talonbooks, 2009.

New, William Herbert. A History of Canadian Literature. 2nd ed. Montreal, PQ: McGill UP, 2003. Roberts, Sir Charles G. D. Tantramar Revisited. An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. Eds. Donna Bennett and Russell Brown. 3rd ed. Don mills, ON: Oxford UP, 2010. 194-195. Roberts, Sir Charles G. D. Canadian Poetry in its relation to the Poetry of England and America. An English Canadian Poetics: Vol 1 The Confederation Poets. Ed. Robert Hogg. Vancouver: BC, Talonbooks, 2009. 143-152. Sir Charles G.D. Roberts Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. National Library of Canada, 2012. Web 20 May 2012.