Canadian Poems of the Great War/Editor's Foreword
Editor's Foreword
GREAT poets are the seers and prophets of a nation—of the world. Their function is to interpret life and nature in terms of beauty and passion, and through imagination and inspiration, reveal the Infinite and the True.
All writers of good verse cannot be great poets, and it is only the works of the latter that permanently endure; but those of minor qualities reflect and influence their own generation, and have an important mission in the evolution of national life.
In proportion as the individual or the nation despises or neglects poetry, there exists a state of moral and spiritual degeneracy. Materialism prevails, and loyal service and generous sacrifice give place to selfishness and unfair advantage. The memories of the young should be stored with beautiful and noble verse.
The centuries seem to mark distinct eras in the development and fashion of poetry. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Burns, Shelley, Keats, Byron, and later, Tennyson, were the dominating leaders of the remarkable school of English poets of the 19th century; and their standards are still potent. Browning cannot be classed with this school. He belongs to the 20th century. And today, Browning, Whitman and Kipling overshadow all others as leaders of poetic thought and expression.
More and more are the poets realizing that the quality of beauty is universal; and hence that there is nothing in this subjective-objective world, outside the pale of artistic expression. More and more are they seeking themes of intense human interest, and striving for climaxes of spiritual beauty.
To me, the spirit and content of an inspired poem is potential form; and in its natural verbal expression, of necessity organic. The inspiration shapes and perfects the form. This is why I regard the actual form as only, at most, equal in importance to what is expressed.
The old saying, "There is nothing new under the sun," is an absurdity. Universal life is ever evolving or becoming, and new phases are constantly appearing. To detect and reveal these in original and artistic forms is the work of genius. Generally speaking, the world of art is the world of concepts, emotions and actions, illumined by the imagination.
This volume contains most of the Canadian poems of the Great War, which are worth preserving. They are two hundred and twenty in number, representing seventy-three poets. As the poetic expression of a young nation, involved for the first time in a life and death struggle, it is unique, and has psychological and historic value.
For valuable suggestions received the Editor's thanks are particularly due to R. H. Hathaway and M. O. Hammond, of Toronto; to Dr. J. D. Logan, of Halifax; to Alfred Buckley, M.A., of Ottawa; and to A. M. Pound, notary public, of Vancouver.
The Editor is also grateful to the following, for permission to use copyright poems: the poets included, or, in a few instances, the executors of their estates; G. P. Putnam's Sons; William Briggs; Thomas Allen; J. M. Dent & Sons; McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart; Punch, London, Eng.; Canadian Magazine; and University Magazine.
Toronto, Canada,
November 1st, 1918