- Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman, FRSC (
April 15 1861 -June 8 ,1929 ) was a preeminent Canadianpoet . He was born William Bliss Carman in Fredericton, in the Maritime province ofNew Brunswick . He published under the name "Bliss Carman," although the "Bliss" is his mother's surname.As with many Canadian poets, nature figures prominently as a theme in his work. In his time, he was arguably Canada's best known poet, and was dubbed by some the "unofficial poet laureate of Canada."
Biography
Bliss Carman was the great-grandson of
United Empire Loyalists who fled toNova Scotia after theAmerican Revolution , settling inNew Brunswick (then part of Nova Scotia). His literary roots run deep with an ancestry that includes a mother who was a descendant of Daniel Bliss of Concord, Massachusetts, the great-grandfather ofRalph Waldo Emerson . Also on his mother's side, he was a first cousin to another famous Canadian poet, Sir Charles G. D. Roberts. His sister was married to the botanist and historianWilliam Francis Ganong .Carman was educated at the
University of New Brunswick , theUniversity of Edinburgh ,Harvard University andNew York University . Relocated toNew York City Carman was influential as an editor and writer for the "Independent", the "Cosmopolitan", the "Atlantic Monthly ", the "Chap Book" and other literary journals. He is also well known for his anthology and editing work on "The World's Best Poetry" (10 volumes, 1904) and "The Oxford book of American Verse" (1927).After 1909, he lived in
New Canaan, Connecticut but became a corresponding Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada . In 1928, the Society awarded him itsLorne Pierce Medal .Bliss Carman died at the age of 68 in
New Canaan, Connecticut . His body was returned home and interred in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Fredericton, New Brunswick.He is honoured with a school named after him in
Toronto, Ontario . [http://www.tdsb.on.ca/scripts/Schoolasp.asp?schno=4350]There is also a school to be named after him in Fredericton, New Brunswick in 2009.
Bliss Carmen Heights (often considered a part of the subdivision Skyline Acres) is a subdivision that consists of Essex St., Gloucester Cres., Reading St., Ascot Court, and Ascot Drive in Fredericton, New Brunswick. A new subdivision has been built off Bliss Carmen Heights, which is named Poet's Hill.
Poetry by Carman
*"A Seamark: A Threnody for Robert Louis Stevenson". Boston: Copeland And Day, 1875.
*"Low Tide on Grande Pre: A Book Of Lyrics". London: D. Nutt, 1894.
*Bliss Carman andRichard Hovey . "Songs From Vagabondia". Illus. Tom B. Meteyard. Boston, Copeland and Day, 1894.
*"Behind The Arras: A Book Of The Unseen". Illus.T. B. Meteyard . Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, 1895.
*"Ballads of Lost Haven: A Book Of The Sea". Boston: Lamson, Wolfee, 1897.
*"By The Aurelian Wall: And Other Elegies". Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, 1898.
*Bliss Carman andRichard Hovey . "Last Songs From Vagabondia". Illus.Tom B. Meteyard . Boston: Small, Maynard 1901.
*"Ballads and Lyrics". London, Bullen, 1902.
*"Ode on the Coronation of King Edward". Boston: L. C. Page, 1902.
*"From The Green Book Of The Bards. His Pipes Of Pan, No.2". Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1903.
*"From The Book Of Myths. His Pipes Of Pan, No. 1". Boston: L. C. Page, 1904.
*"The Kinship Of Nature". Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1904.
*"Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics" (Intro. by Charles G.D. Roberts.) Boston: L. C. Page, 1904. [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/12389 (Gutenberg edition)] [http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/b/Sappho100Lyrics.html Online version]
*"Songs from A Northern Garden. Pipes Of Pan, Number 4". Boston: L. C. Page, 1904.
*"Songs Of The Sea Children". Boston: L. C. Page, 1904.
*"From The Book Of Valentines". Boston: L. C. Page, 1905.
*"Poems". London: Chiswick P, 1905.
*"The Poetry Of Life". Boston: L. C. Page, 1905.
*"The Friendship of Art". Boston: L.C. Page, 1908.
*"The Making of Personality". Boston: L. C. Page, 1908.
*"The Rough Rider: And Other Poems". M. Kennedy: New York, 1909.
*Bliss Carman andMary Perry King . "Daughters Of Dawn: A Lyrical Pageant or Series Of Historic Scenes For Presentation With Music and Dancing". New York: M. Kennerley, 1913.
*"Echoes From Vagabondia". Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1913.
*Bliss Carman andMary Perry King . "Earth Deities: And Other Rhythmic Masques". New York: M. Kennerley, 1914.
*"April Airs: A Book Of New England Lyrics". Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1916.
*Bliss Carman andMary Perry King . "The Man of The Marne: And Other Poems". New Canaan, Conn.: Ponus P, 1918.
*"Later Poems". Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1922.
*Bliss Carman andRichard Hovey . "More Songs From Vagabondia". Illus. Tom B. Meteyard. Boston: Small, Maynard. 1924.
*"Far Horizons". Toronto: M&S, 1926.
*"Sanctuary: Sunshine House Sonnets". Illus. Whitman Bailey. Toronto: M&S, 1929.
*"Wild Garden". Toronto: M&S, 1929.
*"Bliss Carman's Poems". New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1931.
*"Bliss Carman's Scrap-Book: A Table Of Contents". Ed. Lorne Pierce. Toronto: Ryerson, 1931.
*"Pipes Of Pan". Toronto: Ryerson, 1942.
*"The Selected Poems Of Bliss Carman". Ed.Lorne Pierce . Toronto: M&S, 1954.
*"A Vision Of Sappho". Toronto: Canadiana House, 1968.
*"Windflower: Poems Of Bliss Carman". Ed.Raymond Souster andDouglas Lochhead . Ottawa: Tecumseh P, 1985.
*"Vagabond Song". Tweed, Ont.: Bundle Buggy P, 1987.Critical works on Carman
Book-length
*"Bliss Carman's Letters To Margaret Lawrence, 1927-1929". "Post-Confederation Poetry: Texts And Contexts". Ed. D.M.R. Bentley. London: Canadian Poetry P, 1995.
*"Bliss Carman : A Reappraisal". Ed. Gerald Lynch. Ottawa : University Of Ottawa Press, 1990.
*"Letters of Bliss Carman". Ed. H. Pearson Gundy. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University P, 1981.
*Hugh McPherson. "The Literary Reputation Of Bliss Carman : A Study In The Development Of Canadian Taste In Poetry". 1950.
*Muriel Miller. "Bliss Carman, A Portrait". Toronto: Ryerson, 1935.
*Muriel Miller. "Bliss Carman : Quest And Revolt". St. John's, Nfld.: Jesperson P, 1985.
*Donald G Stephens. "Bliss Carman". 1966.
*Donald G. Stephens. "The Influence Of English Poets Upon The Poetry Of Bliss Carman". 1955.
*Margaret A. Stewart. "Bliss Carman : Poet, Philosopher, Teacher". 1976.Articles
*C. Nelson-McDermott. "Passionate Beauty: Carman's Sappho Poems." Canadian Poetry 27 (1990):40-45.
*Tracy Ware, Ed. "Arthur Symons' Reviews of Bliss Carman." Canadian Poetry 37 (1995): 100-13.Notes
External links
* [http://www.carman.net/bliss.htm Bliss Carman bio at carman.net]
*
* [http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/blisscarman/wbcarman.htm Biography at Bliss Carman School]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001416 Bliss Carman's] entry in [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1 The Canadian Encyclopedia]
* [http://db.archives.queensu.ca/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=MENU_QUERY&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A//archives.queensu.ca/dbtw-wpd/fondsdb/wiki.htm&TN=fonds&SN=carman&RF=HTML+-+Fonds+Display&EF=&DF=HTML+-+Fonds+Display&MR=20&RL=1&EL=1&DL=1&NP=0 Bliss Carman fonds] available at [http://archives.queensu.ca/ Queen's University Archives]Research resources
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf4b69n72n Bliss Carman Papers, 1889-1927] (2 linear ft.) are housed in the [http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html Department of Special Collections and University Archives] at [http://library.stanford.edu/ Stanford University Libraries]
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