Willows Revisited

Primary tabs

Pages

MSS 37_I_A_2_013
Page 13but it was immediately pointed out that any objection to theQueen would certainly be extended to the Queen's representativeeven though he was "protemoral" and appointed by the party in power at Ottawa. The verse was then changed toGod Bless our gracious Prime Minister. To this also an objection was raised since it was pointed out that the title Prime Minister is itself a British title and its use carried the suggestion of colonialism into Canada. The verse was then changed toGod bless our gracious Prime,Prime to be a new Canadian title corresponding to President in the United States, the term President itself being regarded as unsuitable for use in Canada, since it night add to the present uncertainty as to who is actually running this country.The New National Anthem, in the final Swivel-Jones-Jones version was as follows;God save our gracious Prime Keep him in every clime B. C. to Maritime And in between, Send him victorious Strong and uxorious Loud and uproarious God save our Preem.It was Jordan Middleduck who suggested "uxorious" as one of the qualities with which the Prime should be endowed. Middleduck, whose literary creed is that poetry is justified only insofar as it carries a moral message, maintained that "uxorious" stresses the sanctity of the Canadian home, and he
MSS 37_I_A_2_014
Page 14also defended the first line against which the criticism had been raised that it sounded too much like saying a grace before starting on the Sunday roast by maintaining farther that such was all to the good. "Loud and uproarious" is, of course, indicative of the joy and happiness which it was felt should pervade this country, and the pronunciation of the Prime as Preem in the last line (to rhyme with cream) is a concession to Quebec.On the whole it was a very good replacement for our present National Anthem. Its almost immediate rejection was due to the fact that it was not sufficiently bilingual. With this in mind another attempt at a National Anthem was made in which, oh Canada was recast st bilingually employing for the purpose what is known as Prairie High School French so that it would be acceptable in the West as well as in Quebec. But it also was doomed to failure. Quebec's disinclination to rhyme demandez with pays, and the positive refusal to pronounce vous to rhyme with moose as in the P. H. S. French led to its rejection in spite of the fact that the line "Quebec is nous amis" definitely extends the hand of friendship to Quebec and is an effort towards rapprochement on the part of the Saskatchewan writers on behalf of the rest of Canada However, as the Prime has said, "Given another few centennials, it may yet be adopted. We are not going to close the door on the West. one never knows about Quebec."Thus encouraged, the bilingual National Anthem has been
MSS 37_I_A_2_015
Page 15privately printed and distributed and an effort is being made to have it sung in the schools;Oh Canada. Chez nous et native pays, Vrais patriot amour, in toute fils demandez, Avec hearts aflamme nous vu vous rise, Une true nord forte et douce, Et stand en guard, Oh Canada, I Nous stand on guard pour vous, Oooh Canada, Quebec is nous amis, Oooh Canada, nous stand on guard pour thee.It may be even too bilingual for adoption in the schools.wot so however Jones-Jones' adaptation of The Maple Loaf Forever which incidentally Quebec has not even considered since the Saskatchewan pronunciation of fleur de lis as fleur de liz suggests too close a connection with the present Queen. The use of riz for had risen is colloquial in Saskatchewan and is a deliberate effort on the part of Jones-Jones, the author to bring literature to the people. For the further use of rizin poetry see also Middleduck's Noah, Chapter 8.In days of yore when history riz On Canada's fair domain, The maple leaf and fleur de liz with Wolfe and Montcalm came And now they wave upon this earth, To join in love togetherWith herring, buffalo, spud, and snearth, In all political weather.There is no doubt that sectionalism together with the unfortunate geographical diversity of Canada have tended to defeat the efforts of the School of Seven toward national unity. Manitoba and Saskatchewan were able to resolve their border problems , Their common soil and common language were instrumental in
MSS 37_I_A_2_016
Page 16bringing them into amity despite the fact that the magpie problem has still to be settled. Bat where regional differences are further accentuated by the problems of language it is unlikely that a complete national unity can be brought about by the simple expedient of a new national flag or a new national anthem. As one travels westward from the Maritimes of the Atlantic, language succeeds language. From the Gaelic of Nova Scotia through French Quebec and Italian Toronto, across the Bungy of Northern Ontario, the Icelandic of Northern Manitoba and the Ukrainian of Saskatchewan to the Siwash of the Pacific coast, interspersed here and there with pockets of Dutch, Swedish, Mennonite-Low-German, Japanese, and Swahili, culture succeeds culture. It is indeed no wonder that Sarah Binks made the historical error of having Saskatchewan subject to a Roman Occupation, or that Jordan Middleduck in his great epic, Noah (See Chapter 8) should have had Noah concerned about the natives when he was likely to meet when the Ark approached Ararat:-Today we land, so better crane the neck,And keep a sharp lookout to meet the foe, Canadian-French, Ukrainian, Pole, or Czech� This is the West� we can't exactly know.But neither sectionalism nor language barriers stand inthe way of Poem of the Month that splendid Centennial projectwhich one Saskatchewan poets have proposed for all Canada. Since it is essentially a do-it-yourself movement it can succeed
MSS 37_I_A_2_017
Page 17in any language and it takes advantage of those very localismsand cultural exclusiveness which have stood in the way ofnational anthems and the decahedral flag. Above all it makesa personal appeal to those Canadians who themselves writepoetry, and the movement is thus assured of overwhelming support.For it enables them to over come their disappointments andfrustrations in that through this' Poem-of-the-Month they arefinally able to publish their poetry, if not in print, at leastby bringing it to public attention in public rostrums.There was a time in Canada when every little community,no matter how new, had its local paper which was happy to fill itscolumns with the poetic achievements of its subscribers especiallywhen not otherwise given over to births and deaths and to thedescription of potatoes weighing over five pounds. (No localeditor ever bought or raised his own potatoes in the early days of the west. But with the drift to the cities the smalltown paper has largely disappeared and even those few which remain find little space for poetry among its government's sponsored articles on rape seed or the removal of tea-stains from the new synthetics. Even Sarah Binks, if living in Saskatchewan today, might be hard put to find an outlet for her work. Genius, of course, will always win out sooner or later, but actually it is fortunate that she lived when she did and that just at those times when she submitted her poetry, such literary organs as the Willows Sheet or the Horse breeders
MSS 37_I_A_2_018
Page 18Gazette happened to be out of five-pound potatoes or Siamese cucumbers. In the cultural history of a nation fate plays its part, but it is too much to expect of fate that those who are not as highly endowed as Sarah should be given the sameopportunity. but Poem-of-the-Month is deliberate. In its inception it can be said to go back to any "of-the-month" projects but it was the appearance of the "cheese-of-the-month" idea which first suggested to Bessie Udderton, the poet of Innerness, that it could be applied to the whole of Canada in the form of something resembling a folk festival in which all could participate. Under its rules any citizen of Canada writing poetry in any language but otherwise denied its publication would be permitted to declaim or recite or even sing his best poems at one of the many regional art centres which are springing up throughout the country in connection with the Centennial. These buildings it is claimed, will soon fall into neglect and disrepair unless they are continually used which is unlikely since cultural interest tends to run down nationally after the novelty wears off' 'The single theme upon which the Little Theatre movement has finally settled will soon lose out in the face of growing amateur competition, whereas ballet, according to the Chairman of the Department of Music and Fine Arts at St Midgets College "cannot long survive in this country because of the cold. And in any case you can onlylook at one girl at a time, and you don't need a hall for that."
MSS 37_I_A_2_019
Page 19Poetry however springs eternal from the deep wells ofhuman emotion and it is just this fact of which the Saskatchewanpoets are keenly aware. Culturally they see Canada henceforthas one king Centennial. If the art centres throughout thecountry are to be given over to public outpourings of poetry,local poets would of coarse predominate. But it is to bepoetry for its own sake. No prizes or awards are to be given.Canada is to have a new poetic birth of freedom in that the frustrationsof bottled-up poesy are to be released, and if, out of this,a new sense of national unity does not arise nothing else willever arouse it. True, there is always a danger to the presentpolitical parties since with the disappearance of presentundeclared and even unrecognized resentments deep in the nationalsubconsciousness these could no longer be channelled intoorganized groups. Government leaders and leaders of the opposition have recognized this danger, but it is to their undying credit that they have still expressed their willingness to participate in some of the Poem-of-the-Month" festivals and lend their support to this popular movement which is more and more sweeping the country. "I would have joined this thing in any case," declared the Prime. Quite apart from any political consideration I want some of my own work to see the light of day. So far all I could do was get some of it in Hansard. You might as well bury it."Efforts to enlist tine aid of other outstanding Canadians
MSS 37_I_A_2_020
Page 20have met with even more generous response. Not only thePrime minister, or Prime but also some of the members of his cabinet, have submitted advance copies of their own work which they hopeto recite at the official opening of the first Poem-To-the-Month.'' Moreover the word has got around and unsolicited contributions of poetry are already pouring in some of which have not been signed but when considered of sufficient merit have generously been sponsored by some of the members of the School of Seven. To Centennial Flag, for example, Jones-Jones has consented authorship since it expresses unusually high patriotic feeling. ''I did not-actually write it," he declares "but it is certainly the kind of thing I'd do if I were writing it."Centennial flag! Fly flag! Let this our banner wave, And on this great Centennial swing, Above Sir John Macdonald's grave And W. L. Mackenzie King,Unfurl unfaded in the breeze, not orange, but red, fly high and tell, Of all this land between the seas, And south to the 49th parallel.For blanket, bottle, buckskin, bead, Lead U.S. tourists into town, West from the Calgary Stampede To Expos's buildings upside-down,That when they go they've much to tell, And color slides of things they've seen � Winnipeg, and the tombstone of Riel, And perhaps the palace of the Queen,The advance poem from the Prime Minister of Canada was accompanied by a note of explanation. It is to be the first
MSS 37_I_A_2_021
Page 21of a series of poems which he either intends to write or has already written, and which he hopes to publicly declaim at one or another of the Art centres on a crass country tour. Thisfirst of his poems entitled. To Be or hot to Be? seems to partake of a definite Shakesperean character which he explains;"They are not all going to be like this Shakesperean one. Gut west I may have to do something after the manner of Sarah Binks or perhaps something more modern, and out at the coast I'll keep Pauline Johnson in mind. But here in the east where people have heard of Shakespeare it's just as well to give it a cultural touch especially after ail that Stratford Festival stuff. They expect it of me here. In the Maritimes I'll beworking on something like The Wreck of the Hesperus. To be or not to be�that is my question I now am much alone and much distraught. But I have followers, yet--Duke Gordon, Earl of Sharp, And crafty Pickersgill�-are These not loyal arms? And there are more besides;The year's dismay Those sling's and ballots of outrageous fortune Have made us craven and have turned our bones to milk. Such must not be I Forward any Braves and raise The new flag high, And shout in voices pitched To shame the rook, or ee'n the eagle's call As like Air Canada it soars from peak to peak Across this wide Dominion, Or should I say this wide Confederation? Odds boots! But shout, Up Canada, Quebec for Pearson, and God for all of us!It is a truly splendid poem and has the national sweepwhich is in keeping with Canada's Centennial, Much moreintimate and certainly much closer to the heart of thefeminine votar is that poem sent by the only woman member of
MSS 37_I_A_2_022
Page 22the cabinet in which she expresses her private wish to returnto the joys and unconcern of girlhood. The poem is technicallyimperfect, in the first verse[at least, in that it rhymeschronicle with dull. but such little imperfections endear herto every poet in the country. Her opening, "Turn back, On tine"seems to link her culturally with Wraitha Dovecote of whose workshe is said to be very fond.Turn back, oh time, and let pie see again Those clear young days, when public life seemed dull, And men in politics gave me a pain And history was a deadly chronicle.And I was sweet and slim and bright and brave Nor bothered then with calorie or rule, I My only care to make the boys behave Or sneak a cigarette behind the school.I cannot ask of time, that you should take, lie back beyond elections arid alarms. To some one man or know the ancient ache Of being held and crushed within his arms.Such days are gone, but let me once more feel The joy of loosened things-oh lift the yoke Of public image--give me one square meal And perhaps a drink, and certainly a smoke.Because of the great success of the Poemof-the-Monthmovement as it seizes upon popular imagination, it may becomenecessary to limit the number of participants at the monthlypoetic festivals-either that or build more art centres. Eitheralternative would be regrettable, since to increase the number ofart centres would naturally decrease the number of museumsthroughout the country and to limit the number of poets whocould take part would defeat the aim of the project which is
MSS 37_I_A_2_023
Page 23to bring poetry to the people and in turn have it spring from the grass roots. Already there is a tendencey for professionals to use the Poem of the Month for their own advancement. Two poems have already come from outstanding rt;dio and television personalities, who really have no occasion to make use of the art centres to adva ce their poetry since they have the other medium at their disposal. B""ut on the other hand, it is auite possible that they see in the Poem-of-the-Month an opportunityito express their private feelings and yearnings. Poetry alwaysIreveals the inner man to which radio and television are definitely opposedIn the case of the one television personality at least who has attractedattention throughout Canada as being a public exponent of theGod-is-dead school of theology as well as that of the God-never-livedhis poem reveals him as being in complete contradictionto his public image. He actually turns out to be a devout andtrustful person whose teachings at his mother's knee have notbeen forgotten, but his natural shyness apparently has prevented him from revealing trie inner self which here finds it's outlet in poetry:When I was small and with my mummy, K dimpled child and mostly tummy I said my little prayers because, I knew there was a Santy Claus, So I resolved that come what must, Nothing would disturb my trust, And nothing, nothing take away What I was taught from day to day, So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Guard the bed that I lie on.When I was young and cite ad neat And lived on milk and shredded wheat I learned while at my mother's knees That stars are peek-holes, moon is cheese, And sky is round and world is fiat I learned it all and that that; Now I've resolved that come what may, Nothing must take my faith away� �
MSS 37_I_A_2_024
Page 24So Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark, Guard the nights when things get dark .In sharp contrast to a poem of such inner revealings isthat submitted by an equally outstanding television star, anauthor of renown in Canada, who prefers fur the present atleast, to remain anonymous, but who has merely submitted his poemas kind of a sample of what he would like to do in connectionwith the Poem-of-the-month festivals. He feels that Canada'sfar north is being neglected in all this Centennial celebration and should receive its due share of recognition, with this in mind he has written 'Christmas Eve in the Yukon,'' a narrativepoem full of the local colour with which he is familiar. It isa poem full of the true Christmas spirit and has a happy ending.Christmas Eve in the YukonIt was Christmas Eve in the Yukon, And plugging the whole night through, Came a gambler whose name was Berton, And a lady who was known as Lou �But hot on their track, with a gun in his pack, Was Dangerous Dan McGrew.And they came to a place called Maggie's To join in the Christmas whirl, So they bought some drinks, and they started in To dance and to cut and to twirl � Until full of sin, McGrew burst in, And he said, "I want that girl!"Now the gambling man was a gambler, Aria was willing to go for broke, And he said to Dan, "I'll stake her, Against your gun and your poke, And if you cut high you can have her, And I'll let you take my place," But the dangerous one just pulled his gun, And he said, "This here's an ace."

Pages