[BURPEE] CHARLES HEAVYSEGE 49 
pulous Jezebel, and of Ahab, her weak and effeminate husband. Jehu, 
too, is here, fierce bearer of God’s vengeance; and Elijah, the Prophet, 
but that inspired figure was beyond the power of a Heavysege to picture. 
The Owl, a poem of twenty-five stanzas, is curious as being a direct 
imitation of Poe’s Raven. If Heavysege was influenced at all by modern 
poetry, it must have been by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Many of 
the characteristics of Poe’s verse will be found in that of Heavysege, 
the sombre tone, the leaning towards supernaturalism, and the occasional 
tendency to lapse even into morbidness. ‘There is, of course, no com- 
parison possible between the achievements of the two poets. ‘The 
genius of Poe rose far beyond the utmost reach of Heavysege. The 
latter lacked many of the qualities essential to the making of truly 
great poetry, although some few he undoubtedly possessed. 
The Dark Huntsman, the only other poem of Heavysege’s which 
to my knowledge has ever been published, is a trifle longer than The 
Owl. It is a weird conception, worked out with a good deal of native 
power. By adopting a metre of four anapaests Heavysege gave a fine 
swing and sweep to the lines, very appropriate to the subject. He also 
made a rather effective use of Parallelism,—which someone has called 
the “rhyme of ideas.” This he probably took from Biblical poetry, 
although it marks another point of resemblance to Poe. 
It remains only to mention Heavysege’s one disastrous attempt at 
prose fiction. His novel, The Advocate,’ was published at Montreal, in 
1865. The scene is laid in Montreal, about the beginning of the cen- 
tury. The general quality of the dialogue may be gathered from the 
following extract. The old French Canadian Seigneur has been remon- 
strating with Amanda, the heroine of the tale, because she will persist 
in marrying his son. This is her defence :— 
“Tt was accident that brought us face to face; as we observe the sun 
and moon—that are separate in their seasons, and withal so different in their 
glory’s given degree, brought monthly, as if fortuitously, though in reality, 
by eternal, fixed design, into conjunctive presence amidst the sky. Yet who 
shall blame the sun and moon for that ? ” 
“None,” said the Seigneur. 
“Then let no one blame your son and me,” continued Amanda, and if 
Heaven, perhaps to try us, has ordained that our paths should cross each 
other, as might two strange and diverse celestial bodies pass apparently too 
hazardously near each other in their appointed orbits 


1 The Advocate: A Novel. By Charles Heavysege. Montreal: Richard 
Worthington. Toronto: Rollo and Adam. 1865. 
[This novel was reviewed at the time in some of the Canadian papers. 
Outside periodicals would not condescend to mention it, and indeed it deserved 
no better treatment. Professor Murray’s review, in one of the Montreal 
newspapers, was probably the most satisfactory. He treated it adequately, 
and very severely.] 
