Charles Sangster
Encyclopedia
Charles Sangster was a Canadian poet
whose 1856 volume, The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, "was received with unanimous acclaim as the best and most important book of poetry produced in Canada
until that time." He was "the first poet who made appreciative use of Canadian subjects in his poetical work." The Dictionary of Canadian Biography
calls him "the best of the pre-confederation poets."
), near Kingston, Ontario
, the son of Ann Ross and James Sangster. A twin sister died in infancy. His father, a "joiner" or shipbuilder who worked for the British Navy around the Great Lakes
, died at Penetanguishene just before Charles turned 2. His mother raised Charles and his 4 siblings on her own.
Sangster was an indifferent student, finding "the school curriculum irrelevant and his masters stern and uninspiring." At 15 years old, he left school to help provide for the family. He took a job in the naval lab making cartridges at Fort Henry
and two years later was transferred to the Ordnance office at the fort.
About this time (1839) Sangster wrote his first serious poem, a 700-line narrative in rhyming couplets called "The Rebel." The poem "contains an extensive vocabulary and rich and imaginative historical and geographical allusions, ... beyond what might be expected of a boy
... who had so little formal education.... the content and form suggest considerable previous writing."
During the 12 years he worked at the Ordinance office Sangster began doing part-time work for a Kingston newspaper, the British Whig
. He also continued writing poetry and submitting it, anonymously or pseudonymously, to the local papers.
, where he became editor of the Amherstburg Courier. When James Reeves, owner of the Courier, died the same year, Sangster returned to Kingston, to work as a proofreader and bookkeeper for the British Whig.
Sangster first gained national attention as a poet in 1850, when his poetry began appearing in Canada's Literary Garland magazine. Soon he was publishing in other magazines, such as Anglo-American Magazine, as well.
In 1853 Sangster took a steamship excursion down the St. Lawrence River and up the Saguenay River
in Quebec
, which he wrote about for the Whig in a series of travel letters called "Etchings by the Way" -- material he would also use in his long poem, "The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay".
Sangster published his first book of poetry, The St Lawrence and the Saguenay, and Other Poems, in 1856. The book was widely praised by reviewers and readers. Susanna Moodie
wrote to Sangster; "If a native of Canada, [one] may well be proud of her Bard, who has sung in such lofty strains the natural beauties of his native land." The National Magazine of London
echoed the same sentiment: "Well may the Canadians be proud of such contributions to their infant literature.... In some sort, and according to his degree, Mr. Sangster may be regarded as the Wordsworth of Canada."
Charles Sangster "married 21-year-old Mary Kilborn of Kingston on Sept. 16, 1856, and the newlyweds moved into a brick house at 144 Barrie Street across from the grassy park. (An historical plaque directly across the street honours the Sangster home.)" Mary was to die of pneumonia
just 16 months later.
In 1859, Sangster wrote the poem "Brock", commissioned for the inauguration of the monument to General Isaac Brock
at Queenston Heights
.
Sangster's second book of poetry, Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics, appeared in 1860, published in Kingston and Montreal. "A rousing success, Hesperus ... received even more approval than his first book." "Hesperus was well received, and many critics considered it superior to The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, as did Sangster himself." The same year, Sangster remarried, to Henrietta Charlotte Mary Meagher, who was only 17 years of age (to his 38).
In 1864, Sangster became a reporter for the Kingston Daily News, and 16 of his poems appeared in the first-ever anthology of Canadian poetry
, Selections from Canadian Poets. The same year, the Sangsters celebrated the birth of their first child, Charlotte Mary.
]
arranged a job for Sangster with Canada's new Post Office Department
.
Accordingly, in 1868, at 46, Sangster "accepted a position in the Post-Office Department at Ottawa, where his poetic energy and ambition succumbed, apparently, to the incessant drudgery and to the hampering cares of ill-paid employment.", "With his appointment ... Sangster's life became characterized by overwork, ill health and scant literary output." He remained with the Post Office until his retirement in 1886.
Sangster was also kept busy by a growing family. Sadly, Charlotte died in 1868, shortly after the move to Ottawa. The same year, though, Mrs. Sangster gave birth to a second daughter, Florence. Two years later, in 1870, their third daughter, Gertrude was born, followed in 1879 by a son, Roderick.
Sangster published 16 poems in magazines between 1868 and 1878, most of which he had written before moving to Ottawa. He wrote virtually nothing for the 18 years he worked at the Post Office. As he later wrote: "When I went down to Ottawa ... I took a pile of M.S. of a third volume with me, as I thought 'ready for the press', but in all the 18 years I remained there I did little more than correct.... When they get a man into the Civil Service
, their first duty is to crush him flat, and if he is a fool of a Poet, or dares to think of any nonsense of that kind, draw him through a Knot or a gimlet hole a few times, pile with agony of toil, toil, toil until his nerves are flattened out, all the rebound knocked out of him, and then – superannuate him ... and tell him he should be thankful."
Sangster had a nervous breakdown in 1875, and developed a chronic nervous system condition during the 1880s. To make matters worse, Henrietta died sometime between 1883 and 1886, leaving him to raise his new family alone. After another breakdown in March 1886, he took a six-month leave of absence, and also resigned from the Royal Society of Canada (which had elected him in 1882). Finally, that September he retired and moved back to Kingston.
For the first years of retirement, Sangster did little but convalesce. In July 1888, he received a letter from W.D. Lighthall
, inquiring about new poems for an upcoming anthology (most likely Lighthall's 1889 Songs of the Great Dominion
. Sangster replied the next day, and the two men struck up a friendship by mail.
Revitalized, Sangster began revising his poetry. He doubled the size of "The Saint Lawrence and the Saguenay" to over 200 stanzas, and sent the manuscript to his cousin Amos Sangster to illustrate. When Amos died, the manuscript and the new poem was lost. However, 40 of the new stanzas survived thanks to being published in various magazines.
Charles Sangster also cut many of the "other" poems in the first volume, and made over 2,000 changes to the ones he kept. Hesperus got off easier, but Sangster still made more than 200 revisions to the work. As well, Sangster prepared two more volumes for publication, mostly from poems he'd written before moving to Ottawa: Norland Echoes & Other Strains, and The Angel Guest & Other Poems.
By the summer of 1871, all four manuscripts were complete, and Sangster sent them off to Lighthall (who had become his literary executor). However, before any of them could be published, Sangster died. None of them were published until the 1970s.
Charles Sangster died in Kingston in 1893, and is buried in the city's Cataraqui Cemetery
.
Sangster’s inspiration was drawn from three themes he was passionate about: love, nature and religion. He wrote many poems about his experiences and was commended for his ability to express the beauty of Canada’s landscapes. Sangster was often called the “father of Canadian poetry” because of this. Many of the love poems from his first book were directed towards his first wife; the nature poems were of his travels.
For a man with limited educational training, Charles Sangster had a vast vocabulary and an extraordinary knowledge of history, classics, mythology and authors. His poems include an extensive knowledge of classic, historic, and mythological works, as well as British and American authors, including Shakespeare, Milton
, Burns
, Wordsworth, P.J. Bailey, and Longfellow
.
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
whose 1856 volume, The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, "was received with unanimous acclaim as the best and most important book of poetry produced in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
until that time." He was "the first poet who made appreciative use of Canadian subjects in his poetical work." The Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The DCB, which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toronto and Université Laval...
calls him "the best of the pre-confederation poets."
Life
Sangster was born at the Navy Yard on Point Frederick (now the site of Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
), near Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, the son of Ann Ross and James Sangster. A twin sister died in infancy. His father, a "joiner" or shipbuilder who worked for the British Navy around the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, died at Penetanguishene just before Charles turned 2. His mother raised Charles and his 4 siblings on her own.
Sangster was an indifferent student, finding "the school curriculum irrelevant and his masters stern and uninspiring." At 15 years old, he left school to help provide for the family. He took a job in the naval lab making cartridges at Fort Henry
Fort Henry
Fort Henry is the name of:*Fort Henry , a 1646 fort near present-day Petersburg, Virginia*Fort Henry , a 1774 fort near present–day Wheeling, West Virginia...
and two years later was transferred to the Ordnance office at the fort.
About this time (1839) Sangster wrote his first serious poem, a 700-line narrative in rhyming couplets called "The Rebel." The poem "contains an extensive vocabulary and rich and imaginative historical and geographical allusions, ... beyond what might be expected of a boy
... who had so little formal education.... the content and form suggest considerable previous writing."
During the 12 years he worked at the Ordinance office Sangster began doing part-time work for a Kingston newspaper, the British Whig
Kingston Whig-Standard
The Kingston Whig-Standard is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published daily, except on Sunday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by Sun Media...
. He also continued writing poetry and submitting it, anonymously or pseudonymously, to the local papers.
Writing career and success
In 1849 Sangster quit his job at Fort Henry and moved to Amherstburg, OntarioAmherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg is a Canadian town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario. It is approximately south of the U.S...
, where he became editor of the Amherstburg Courier. When James Reeves, owner of the Courier, died the same year, Sangster returned to Kingston, to work as a proofreader and bookkeeper for the British Whig.
Sangster first gained national attention as a poet in 1850, when his poetry began appearing in Canada's Literary Garland magazine. Soon he was publishing in other magazines, such as Anglo-American Magazine, as well.
In 1853 Sangster took a steamship excursion down the St. Lawrence River and up the Saguenay River
Saguenay River
The Saguenay River is a major river of Quebec, Canada.It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east, and passes the city of Saguenay. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River at Tadoussac....
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, which he wrote about for the Whig in a series of travel letters called "Etchings by the Way" -- material he would also use in his long poem, "The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay".
Sangster published his first book of poetry, The St Lawrence and the Saguenay, and Other Poems, in 1856. The book was widely praised by reviewers and readers. Susanna Moodie
Susanna Moodie
Susanna Moodie, born Strickland , was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time.-Biography:...
wrote to Sangster; "If a native of Canada, [one] may well be proud of her Bard, who has sung in such lofty strains the natural beauties of his native land." The National Magazine of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
echoed the same sentiment: "Well may the Canadians be proud of such contributions to their infant literature.... In some sort, and according to his degree, Mr. Sangster may be regarded as the Wordsworth of Canada."
Charles Sangster "married 21-year-old Mary Kilborn of Kingston on Sept. 16, 1856, and the newlyweds moved into a brick house at 144 Barrie Street across from the grassy park. (An historical plaque directly across the street honours the Sangster home.)" Mary was to die of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
just 16 months later.
In 1859, Sangster wrote the poem "Brock", commissioned for the inauguration of the monument to General Isaac Brock
Isaac Brock
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...
at Queenston Heights
Queenston Heights
thumb|Brock's Monument|250px|Brock's Monument at Queenston HeightsThe Queenston Heights is a geographical feature of the Niagara Escarpment immediately above the village of Queenston, Ontario, Canada. Its geography is a promontory formed where the escarpment is divided by the Niagara River...
.
Sangster's second book of poetry, Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics, appeared in 1860, published in Kingston and Montreal. "A rousing success, Hesperus ... received even more approval than his first book." "Hesperus was well received, and many critics considered it superior to The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, as did Sangster himself." The same year, Sangster remarried, to Henrietta Charlotte Mary Meagher, who was only 17 years of age (to his 38).
In 1864, Sangster became a reporter for the Kingston Daily News, and 16 of his poems appeared in the first-ever anthology of Canadian poetry
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
, Selections from Canadian Poets. The same year, the Sangsters celebrated the birth of their first child, Charlotte Mary.
]
Post office and retirement
By 1867, Sangster "was in a poor financial situation and suffered increasingly from ill health, depression, and a nervous disorder that would cause him deep mental pain the rest of his life." To help him out his neighbor, the new Postmaster-General Alexander CampbellAlexander Campbell (Canadian politician)
Sir Alexander Campbell, PC, KCMG, QC was an English-born, Canadian statesman and politician, and a father of Canadian Confederation....
arranged a job for Sangster with Canada's new Post Office Department
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
.
Accordingly, in 1868, at 46, Sangster "accepted a position in the Post-Office Department at Ottawa, where his poetic energy and ambition succumbed, apparently, to the incessant drudgery and to the hampering cares of ill-paid employment.", "With his appointment ... Sangster's life became characterized by overwork, ill health and scant literary output." He remained with the Post Office until his retirement in 1886.
Sangster was also kept busy by a growing family. Sadly, Charlotte died in 1868, shortly after the move to Ottawa. The same year, though, Mrs. Sangster gave birth to a second daughter, Florence. Two years later, in 1870, their third daughter, Gertrude was born, followed in 1879 by a son, Roderick.
Sangster published 16 poems in magazines between 1868 and 1878, most of which he had written before moving to Ottawa. He wrote virtually nothing for the 18 years he worked at the Post Office. As he later wrote: "When I went down to Ottawa ... I took a pile of M.S. of a third volume with me, as I thought 'ready for the press', but in all the 18 years I remained there I did little more than correct.... When they get a man into the Civil Service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, their first duty is to crush him flat, and if he is a fool of a Poet, or dares to think of any nonsense of that kind, draw him through a Knot or a gimlet hole a few times, pile with agony of toil, toil, toil until his nerves are flattened out, all the rebound knocked out of him, and then – superannuate him ... and tell him he should be thankful."
Sangster had a nervous breakdown in 1875, and developed a chronic nervous system condition during the 1880s. To make matters worse, Henrietta died sometime between 1883 and 1886, leaving him to raise his new family alone. After another breakdown in March 1886, he took a six-month leave of absence, and also resigned from the Royal Society of Canada (which had elected him in 1882). Finally, that September he retired and moved back to Kingston.
For the first years of retirement, Sangster did little but convalesce. In July 1888, he received a letter from W.D. Lighthall
William Douw Lighthall
William Douw Lighthall , K.C., LL.D., F.R.S.C. , can be and has been described as a Canadian "lawyer, historian, novelist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, and editor."...
, inquiring about new poems for an upcoming anthology (most likely Lighthall's 1889 Songs of the Great Dominion
Songs of the Great Dominion
Songs of the Great Dominion was a pioneering anthology of Canadian poetry published in 1889. The book's full title was Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada. The collection was selected and edited by William Douw Lighthall of Montreal...
. Sangster replied the next day, and the two men struck up a friendship by mail.
Revitalized, Sangster began revising his poetry. He doubled the size of "The Saint Lawrence and the Saguenay" to over 200 stanzas, and sent the manuscript to his cousin Amos Sangster to illustrate. When Amos died, the manuscript and the new poem was lost. However, 40 of the new stanzas survived thanks to being published in various magazines.
Charles Sangster also cut many of the "other" poems in the first volume, and made over 2,000 changes to the ones he kept. Hesperus got off easier, but Sangster still made more than 200 revisions to the work. As well, Sangster prepared two more volumes for publication, mostly from poems he'd written before moving to Ottawa: Norland Echoes & Other Strains, and The Angel Guest & Other Poems.
By the summer of 1871, all four manuscripts were complete, and Sangster sent them off to Lighthall (who had become his literary executor). However, before any of them could be published, Sangster died. None of them were published until the 1970s.
Charles Sangster died in Kingston in 1893, and is buried in the city's Cataraqui Cemetery
Cataraqui Cemetery
The Cataraqui Cemetery, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, is the city's largest with over 46,000 interments and growing. The Cemetery is most noted as being the burial site of Canada's first prime minister and a Father of Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald...
.
Writing
The Canadian Encyclopedia says that "Sangster's poetry distinguishes him as a lover and keen observer of the natural world. He displays overwhelming passion in some poems and equally extreme melancholy in others. Whatever his mood he is consistently and intensely serious and deeply religious."Sangster’s inspiration was drawn from three themes he was passionate about: love, nature and religion. He wrote many poems about his experiences and was commended for his ability to express the beauty of Canada’s landscapes. Sangster was often called the “father of Canadian poetry” because of this. Many of the love poems from his first book were directed towards his first wife; the nature poems were of his travels.
For a man with limited educational training, Charles Sangster had a vast vocabulary and an extraordinary knowledge of history, classics, mythology and authors. His poems include an extensive knowledge of classic, historic, and mythological works, as well as British and American authors, including Shakespeare, Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
, Wordsworth, P.J. Bailey, and Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
.
Publications
- The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and Other Poems. Kingston, ON: J. Creighton & J. Duff, 18561856 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Elizabeth Barrett Browning:** Aurora Leigh** Poems...
. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1856. - Hesperus, and Other Poems and Lyrics. Kingston: J. Creighton, 18601860 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Charles Heavysege, Count Filippo* Charles Sangster, Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics-United Kingdom:...
. Montreal: J. Lovell, 1860. London, UK: Trubner, 1860. - Our Norland. Toronto: Copp Clark, [18901890 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .- Events :* Rhymer's Club founded in London by William Butler Yeats and Ernest Rhys as a group of like-minded poets who met regularly and published anthologies in 1892 and 1894; attendees included Ernest...
]. - The St Lawrence and the Saguenay and other poems; Hesperus and other poems and lyrics, intro. Gordon Johnston (Toronto: University of Toronto Press and Buffalo, N.Y., 19721972 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...
. ISBN 0802019358 - Norland echoes and other strains and lyrics,. Frank M. Tierney ed. Ottawa: Tecumseh, 19761976 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...
. ISBN 0919662595 - The angel guest and other poems and lyrics. Frank M. Tierney ed. Ottawa: Tecumseh, 19771977 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...
. ISBN 0919662633 - Hesperus and other poems and lyrics(rev. ed.). Frank M. Tierney ed. Ottawa: Tecumseh, 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
. ISBN 0919662722 - St. Lawrence and the Saguenay and other poems (rev. ed.). Frank M. Tierney ed. Ottawa: Tecumseh, 19841984 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*December 19 - Philip Larkin turns down the British Poet Laureateship, and Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate....
. ISBN 0919662951, ISBN 091966296X
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
External links
- Charles Sangster in the Canadian Encyclopedia.
- Charles Sangster in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
- Charles Sangster at Canadian Poets - Biography & 8 poems (Sonnet, Lyric to the Isles, The Soldiers of the Plough, Harvest Hymn, The Rapid, The Wine of Song, Brock, The Plains of Abraham)