This is a representative collection of the writings of a neglected Canadian author, William Wilfred Campbell (1858-1918).

Among the 112 poems in William Wilfred Campbell: Selected Poetry and Essays are the familiar “Indian Summer” and “How One Winter Came in the Lake Region,” along with many less well-known love poems, patriotic songs, and occasional poems. Some twenty manuscript pieces are published here for the first time.

The notorious “Mermaid Inn” essay in which Campbell refers to the mythical nature of the cross is included, and so is the letter of self-justification that Campbell wrote—but never sent—to the editor of the Globe. Here, too, are speeches, essays published in The Week and the Ottawa Evening Journal, and significant sections from Campbells unfinished treatise on evolution, “The Tragedy of Man.”

By the time Campbell died on New Year’s Day 1918, shifting values had begun to turn critical opinion against his work. Now William Wilfred Campbell: Selected Poetry and Essays will enable Canadians to appreciate Campbells art and to recognize his place in the development of Canadian thought.

Laurel Boone received her Ph.D. from the University of New Brunswick in 1981 where she was employed as a lecturer with the Department of English. She is also a contributing editor for Books in Canada and a regular reviewer for magazines and periodicals throughout Canada.

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