sewn paper
Poetry
1990
328 pages
ISBN 0-88984-107-1
$12.95
Endeared by Dark:
The Collected Poems
George Johnston
This Collected Poems draws together all the poems George
Johnston wishes to preserve from earlier volumes - in some cases in slightly
revised form - and presents for the first time a body of poems written
since Ask Again.
`George Johnston has drawn upon his previous books of poetry,
from The Cruising Auk (1959) to Ask Again (1984)
and added 27 new poems for this collection. In spite of the time span between early and late
work, his style and attitudes are always recognizable and show immediately the mark
of his artistic personality. Yet
Mr Johnston's writing is by
no means confessional. His poetry tends to look outward rather than inward
and is, in the best sense of the expression, occasional verse. His most
successful poetry always has a clear secure human interest, whether he is satirizing
institutions, celebrating individuals or probing common moods and emotions.' `Johnston may well
be Canada's most accomplished poet in the sense that he writes
poetry as a craft, not as self-revelation, or propaganda,
or "high art", or psychological therapy. He is preoccupied with
rhythms, with diction, with tones
and nuances, and the creative
challenge of complex metres and stanza forms. ...This verse celebrates
ordinary life in tones
that vary between the ironic and the sombre, and the tender and the stoic,
but its technique is impeccable, and its chief pleasure lies in the display
of an unostentatious but formidable artistry. He is also the master
of "occasional" poetry, and most of these poems have worn well, transcending
their immediate occasions with shrewd insights and unpretentious
wisdom. Above all, he discovers
a new originality within the deeply traditional.' `Johnston's poetry is, above all, remarkable for its formal perfection,
the delicious certainty of its rhythmic variations, the deflating ironies
of its impeccable diction.' `... I have neglected to mention George Johnston, a man who has
been a dear friend to me, despite, sadly, his silence of late. That is a
curious tale: I used to see him in Canada, a beautiful figure of a man, a
kind of urban Viking, with longish white hair and beard and a strand of gold
wire spiralling through one earlobe, long before men wore earrings. I knew
and loved his poem "War on the Periphery" which was in our high school
anthology. I was so in awe of him, his stately presence, that all those
years we both lived in Ottawa, within minutes of each other, I never dared
approach him. One day, sometime in the late 1970s, I was passing Leicester
Square tube station and who should rise from its depths but George and his
wife. I screeched to a halt and introduced myself and George, without
batting an eye, said, "Oh, I wondered why you never introduced yourself
before - I knew who you were". This brief meeting resulted in a warm, almost
tender, correspondence that lasted over years. I am reminded of what Byron
wrote of Shelley, that compared to him all other men are as brutes. It is
the last line of my poem dedicated to him that provides the title of my
book [ So Dance the Lords of Language ].'
- Kingston Whig-Standard
- Canadian Book Review Annual
- Canadian Literature
- Marius Kociejowski.
R. de Bessonet Bernier
His individual volumes of poems have built him an enviable reputation and a loyal audience. The Cruising Auk (1959); Home Free (1966); Happy Enough: Poems 1933-72 (1972); Taking a Grip (1979); Auk Redivivus: Selected Poems (1981); Ask Again (1984).
Among his translations from Old Norse are: The Saga of Gisli (1963); The Faroe Islanders' Saga (1975) and The Greenlanders Saga (1976)
Mr Johnston died in August, 2004.