At the Mermaid Inn: Wilfred Campbell, Archibald Lampman, Duncan Campbell Scott in The Globe 1892–93 by Wilfred Campbell, Archibald Lampman, Duncan Campbell Scott

Abstract

1345-67) ; and the arming of Arthur, lines 10543-61 (cf. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 566-669). Striking alliterative phrases are not hard to find, e.g., Alle pa heorede-cnauen: mid clibhen heo a-qualden, 10462; Breken braden speren: brustleden sceldes, MS. C 10051; Colgrim pe kene, 9907; or Ardur adelest kingen, 9966. Of special interest are lines which combine both alliteration and rhyme, e.g., per wes moni sellic clad: per wes moni cniht wrad, MS. C 12191, or cnihtes gunnen riden: wifmen ford gliden, 12220. But the text also illustrates a development beyond Old English techniques in its striking similes, thus anticipating later Middle English literature in such passages as the comparison of Arthur’s wrath with the desperation of the fox, who emerges from the forest, hung with snow, intent upon devouring the first prey he sees (10040-43), or the more extended similes such as the description of Saxons fleeing like cranes before the hawks and hounds (10060-67), or the fallen knights floating in the water like steel fishes (10639-45). G. F. Brook and R. F. Leslie have rendered an invaluable service in making these remarkable linguistic and literary features more readily accessible in an edition so clearly set out and comparatively free from error. Its future study will be greatly facilitated, of course, by the appearance of volume 3 contain­ ing introduction, notes, and glossary, which, one hopes, will appear more expeditiously than its predecessor. NOTES 1 To be noted are Early Middle English Texts, ed. Bruce Dickins and R. M. Wilson (Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 19 5 1/ 19 5 2 ), pp. 20-28; Early Middle English Verse and Prose, ed. J. A. W. Bennett and G. V . Smithers, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), pp. 146 -57; and Middle English Literature, ed. Charles W. Dunn and Edward T . Byrnes (New York, N .Y .: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973), pp. 49-53. laurel brasw ell / McMaster University Wilfred Campbell, Archibald Lampman, and Duncan Campbell Scott, At the Mermaid Inn: Wilfred Campbell, Archibald Lampman, Duncan Camp­ bell Scott in The Globe i8gs-gg, Introduction by Barrie Davies (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979). xxiii, 353. $7.50 paper, $25.00 cloth In recent years, The Globe and Mail has presented, under the title, “At the Mermaid Inn,” a series of comments on Canadian culture by various con­ cerned persons. At times polemical, at times fascinating, and at times facile, they have acted, if only fleetingly, to bring the attention of the reader of the daily newspaper to questions about the arts, beyond what play just opened 240 and what the famous pianist thinks of performing in Toronto. Still, these questions have tended to be very contemporary, with few attempts to look back at cultural history, or, specifically, at the period which spawned the original “At the Mermaid Inn.” This last comment is perhaps subtle chauvinism as the true original is of course Keats’s poem. But as Barrie Davies carefully notes in his introduction to At the Mermaid Inn, the collected pieces from the column in The Globe, 1892-93, the writers had quite different ideas from those suggested by Keats. Archibald Lampman, Wilfred Campbell, and Duncan Campbell Scott were in no sense escapist romantics seeking a poetic tower far from the madding crowd. These references to the Tennysonian tower and the Hardyesque crowd suggest their position. They were Victorians, often giving voice to the con­ cerns found in Tennyson and particularly Arnold. Yet they were late Vic­ torians and their interests were less on questions of faith than on the nature of modern society. The search for a true picture of the world can be seen in the various references to Hardy’s Tess, probably the major publication in English during the period of the column. They were also most assuredly Canadians. In fact, this consideration is the primary one. They wished to avoid any parochialism but they were devoted to putting Canadian culture on the map, if not the map of the world, at least the Canadian one. They constantly recognize the inadequacies of Cana­ dian publishing, in both books and periodicals, and they present a variety of...