Section IL, 1884. [ 31 ] Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada. 



III. — The Poets of Canada. 

 % John Lespkrance. 



(Read May 23, 1884.) 



Although it must be admitted as a fundamental principle that a colony cannot have a 

 literature of its own properly so called, inasmuch as literature, to be distinctive, recj[uires 

 the germ of individuality, and individuality, in its collective meaning, is only another 

 term for the outcome of a national sentiment ; yet I apprehend that, as I have had occasion 

 to show in other places, a partial exception should be made in favour of Canada. Our 

 country differs from any other colony of the British Empire in its origin, geographical 

 position, social and political nature, and its tendencies. Paradoxical as it may appear, the 

 very heterogeneousness of our population — divided on the broadest lines of race, creed and 

 tongue — has been the mainspring of a certain national unity clearly observable among 

 Canadians, and much of our mental and moral spontaneity can be traced to a generous, 

 stimulating spirit of competition. The result is that, coming directly to the particular 

 subject which I have in view in this paper, we may justly lay some claim, at least, to a 

 literature of our own in the sense that it is Canadian, as strictly distinct from English, 

 French, or American. And in the various branches of this literature, the most distinctive 

 of all is the department of verse. The ground being thus cleared, I have thought that I 

 could choose nothing more interesting, nor more in accordance with the nature and duties 

 of the English Section of the Royal Society than a brief study of the Poets of Canada. The 

 material naturally divides itself into two parts, the French poets and the English poets, 

 and by right of priority the former must come first under notice. 



French Poets. 



In the summary review of the Literature of French Canada, which I had the honour 

 of submitting to you at the general meeting of last year, I sketched the prominent position 

 held by the French poets among their colleagues who cultivated the other fields of oratory, 

 history, romance, polemics, essays and journalism. I might have added that their position 

 was also the most ancient, in accordance with the general principle that all literatures 

 have their beginnings in song. The first regular and consecutive poem that we find dates 

 back as far as 1*732, when Jean Taché published his Tableau de la mer, written in well- 

 sounding Alexandrines. Taché was a versatile man, — notary, tradesman and shipper, — 

 and his descendants, inheritors of an honoured name, have been faithful to his traditions. 



