When we hear aspirations whispered nowadays that there may be only one language in Canada, it is well to consider the influence of such nervous poetic French on the national feelings of the large population in the province of Quebec. The French language is likely to be deeply seated for some generations yet while there are French Canadian poets.
CHAUVEAU AS A POET.
[26] Page 17.—Hon. Mr. Chauveau's poems appeared at different times in the 'Canadien' of Quebec, 'Le Répertoire National,' 'Les Soirées Canadiennes,' 'La Revue Canadienne,' and in other papers and publications from 1838 until the year of his death, 1890. One of his latest poems, "Le Sacré Cœur," was printed in the second volume of the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' Sec. I. A valuable paper by the same littérateur, "Etude sur les commencements de la poésie française au Canada," appeared in the first volume of the 'Trans.,' Sec. I, p. 65. In "Songs of the Dominion" (London, 1889, App., pp. 455–448) the editor gives an illustration of his spirited style by citing "Donnacona" at length.
HOWE'S POEMS.
[27] Page 17.—These were collected by his son after his death, and printed in a little volume with the title "Poems and Essays." Montreal, 1874, 12mo.
THE POETS SANGSTER AND McLACHLAN.
[28] Page 17.—Charles Sangster was a native of Kingston, and consequently a native Canadian like the others mentioned in the text. His principal poems appeared in the following books: "The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and Other Poems." Kingston and New York, 1856, 8vo. "Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics." Montreal, 1860, 8vo. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Bayard Taylor and Jean Inglelow wrote of his verse in terms of eulogy. See "Bibliotheca Canadensis," p. 337.
Alexander McLachlan was a poet contemporary with Sangster, and imbued with much poetic fervour and Canadian sentiment, but he was born and educated in Scotland, and came to Canada when a young man. His "Emigrant and Other Poems" (Toronto, 1861) merited the praise it received, though this, like his other poetic efforts, are now rarely cited, and no new edition of his works has appeared of recent years.
CHARLES HEAVYSEGE'S WORKS.
[29] Page 18.—"Saul: a Drama in Three Parts." Montreal, 1857, 8vo. 2nd ed., 1859.