The Boatman by Jay Macpherson - 1957

Oxford University Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover (Printed Boards). Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. light blue endpapers; original glassine wrapper not present; English-born Canadian lyric poet Jay Macpherson whose work, often classed as part of the “mythopoeic school,” expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in symbolic verse that was often lyrical or comic. Macpherson's two earlier volumes were incorporated into The Boatman (1957), a book which "gained her a considerable reputation. Dedicated to Northrop Frye and his wife, the collection reflects Frye's emphasis on the mythic and archetypal properties of poetry. The Boatman won the Governor General's Award in 1958. & describes a world where redemption is still possible. Northrop Frye called it the "one good book" of Canadian poetry for that year. He added: "There is little use looking for bad lines or lapses in taste: The Boatman is completely successful within the conventions it adopts, and anyone dissatisfied with the book must quarrel with the conventions. Among these are the use of a great variety of echoes, some of them direct quotations from other poems, and an interest in myth, both Biblical and Classical." The Boatman of the title is Noah, but both Noah and the ark itself form an allegory for the artist and the artistic experience, the ark representing Jung's collective unconscious. The creation is inside its creator, and the ark similarly attempts to explain to Noah ... that it is really inside him, as Eve was once inside Adam. The cover illustration is derived from a design by Jean de Beaugrand for the arms of the Dauphin (1604). "As the ark expands into the flooded world, the body of the Biblical leviathan, and the order of nature, the design of the whole book begins to take shape. The Boatman begins with a poem called 'Ordinary People in the Last Days,' a wistful poem about an apocalypse that happens to everyone except the poet, and ends with a vision of a 'Fisherman' who ... catches 'myriad forms,' eats them, drinks the lake they are in, and is caught in his turn by God."[7] Size: Octavo (standard book size). 70 pages. Previous owner's name ink-stamped on front endpaper: "C. W. M. Swithinbank". (Charles Winthrop Molesworth Swithinbank, the British glaciologist & polar specialist.. Black titles spine. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 250 grams. Category: Poetry; Canada; Poetry. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 2927. . This book is very light, and may be shipped for less than the standard book cost quoted at this site..