Grenville, R. H. [Beatrice C. Rowley]. “Joy is a Bird.” Saturday Evening Post (25 October 1947): 128.
I am finally writing up R.H. Grenville’s draft entry, and am surprised at the lack of information on ancestry.ca. Very often, ancestry.ca is a wealth of biographical detail, but for Beatrice Caroline Bunker (as she was at birth), only one document—her immigration to Canada with her mother in 1925—is available. If anyone out there has any further documented details, we would love to know.
Joy is a Bird
Canada's Early Women Writers: Authors lists 
Beatrice Caroline Bunker, later Mrs. Frank Rowley , wrote under the Nom de Plume of
R.H. Grenville . she became my step-mother by marriage . She was born
July 9th , 1917. I wish her a Happy Birthday.
I believe she still keeps paper and pencil on her bedside table waiting for one of those
magical flashes of insight for which she has been so highly acclaimed
Hello there. Thanks for publishing this and other poems.
I have on my office bookcase a framed copy — obviously hand-made — of “Poet Friends” by R.H. Grenville. The copy was found in my grandfather’s possessions when he passed away 17 years ago. Given the poem’s subject-matter, and the fact that my grandfather was a poet, I wonder if they knew one another?
His name was Hugh Clarke, he was born in 1910, and he lived most of his life in Toronto — but also Chatham (NB), Red Deer (Alta.) and Cobourg (Ont.). He was a carpenter, a pilot, and a retail manager in that order — and a poet throughout.
I can post the poem if you’d like; I would also appreciate knowing of any connection between the two; perhaps there is none, except that my grandfather might have transcribed a poem of hers out of sheer admiration?
Regards,
Jeff Clarke
Thanks very much for letting us know about your grandfather, and his poem. I will check our records and email you with any information that I find.
Karyn
Hi Jeff , I have just talked on the phone with R.H.G. and she can’t recollect a connection with your grand-father ; however , she was pleased and flattered by your interest. Your granddad sounds like a very interesting guy, a true Canadian of the “old school” . If the poem is hand written I could verify it. Bea , my step-mom, was always generous with her friends, writing long letters and hand written poems.
I would appreciate it if you would post it : it might awaken some long -ago memory.
All the best , Charles
Thanks, Charles.
I just sent the poem, along with a photo of the framed copy, to Karyn; I wasn’t sure this was the appropriate place to post either, but I’m sure she knows. In any event, my permission is given but hardly necessary.
It now seems more likely that my grandfather was simply moved by the poem, as the two never lived in the same place.
You’re right that he was Canadian old school, though: he trained pilots in WWII, built the window frames on Toronto’s Union Station (with no work experience — how about that!) and spent the latter half of his career in the Eaton Centre (manager of interior design, I think).
I’m glad R.H.G managed to inspire him, and I’m sorry that I’m too late to ask how that came about.
Jeff
Dear Jeff and Charles,
I have just recovered from illness, and will post the poem tomorrow when I am up at work. I really love the stories that fall out of posting our ladies’ poems; these are the connections that we are hoping always to make.
Wonderful to know that this lady is still with us and writing. Many years ago I cut out a poem published in the English magazine Womans Weekly. I was about 12 yrs old at the time. It has been a favourite of mine since then. It’s called “Joy Would Be Such”
Do you have a copy of the poem still? That is not one of the poems she published in her 1963 volume, so I would love to post it here!
In an old book at Goodwill, I came across a handwriten poem on a note card with the initials ER signed, R. H. Grenville.
So Grand
If God can shape with equal art
A planet and a daisy heart,
Shedding an equal love on all
What do I mean by great and small?
All work is opportunity
To bless, and bring some good to be
I thank you, Father, that to day
I have so grand a part to play.
May I fax a copy to one of you? Would like to know if this is in her own hand.
Lynn
Fascinating, Lynn, thank you for posting this! Yes, you could fax (or pdf?) a copy to me. I will see if I have anything in her handwriting, but if not, I might be able to ask her daughter for verification. I wonder who ER is or was?
ER is Frank Ernest Rowley , my Dad . Although his first name was Frank, he preferred to be called Ernest . Her romance with my Father lasted a lifetime and was expressed often in her poems.
. I have many letters from Bea written over the years- always in longhand- as well as a few unpublished poems . Interested ? Email me . Charles
Thank you for the reply. What a great story.
95 and still writing? What a marvelous thing! I really enjoy writing and am pleased to learn about Mrs. Rowley. I will be looking for her book at the library. I have already enjoyed the two poems posted and the quote I found attributed to her – “In pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.”
She seems to be a wise and godly lady.
Many blessings to her.
Diane
She may be still writing–I’m sure it is something that is deep within her and needs expression–but she isn’t currently publishing. I would love it if her family could convince her of how much some of us would love to see a new volume of poetry from her: she has literally hundreds of poems in journals that never made it into her one volume. Wouldn’t that be superb?
YES! i tried to find her book at our library, but they do not have it. I checked on Amazon and found a couple of offers, but they were out of my price range. I did find another site that listed many of her works, but I have not had time to explore that yet.
I am hoping it has some more poems that I can enjoy.
Here is the link, just in case someone wants to check it out. http://connection.ebscohost.com/tag/GRENVILLE%252C%2BR.%2BH.
Is anyone familiar with her poem ‘Book Lovers House’? I ‘d like to know when she wrote it.
Pam, I’ll ask her next time we speak . She has recently moved to a care home, -hated to leave her beloved books behind . C.R.
Thank you, Charles, I was going to pass this on to you. I will reply to your generous email soon, too. I’ve been rather busy, as I have to rewrite my Critical Reading and Writing course (new textbook).
Thank you, much appreciated. I recently lost my beloved aunt and found the poem while cleaning out her house. The poem described my aunt perfectly. It was taped to some card stock, very yellowed and old so I was just wondering approximately how long my aunt may have had it. Thank you again. I look forward to hearing from you.
Long ago, in the 1950’s maybe, I cut out a poem marked R. H. Grenville titled “Memorabilia.” It went like this:
A gaggle of geese (called a skein when in flight)
Or a covey of quail is a memorable sight;
But oh the bravado and tossing of curls
When a swagger of boys meets a giggle of girls!
I don’t know where I found it or exactly when, but I’ve enjoyed it since then. When and where was it published?
Dear Theil,
I have looked through all of my records, and can’t find the publication info for “Memorabilia.” I’m really sorry: I do have a file with scraps and hand-written poems, as well as a number of photocopies, and a list of 182 of her poems from the HM Wilson Readers’ Retrospective Guide… and still no sign! Her family tells me that she published in over 70 different journals, so I guess it isn’t surprising I can’t find this one… still, it would have been nice to have been able to be more helpful.
Hi Charles (Rowley) – I am interested in being in contact with you. Are you able to email me? nieciadunn@gmail.com
I have a poem that I wrote into a journal in my teen years titled “Lazy Day” beginning “some days come to us like a golden gift…” I tried to find a copy on the internet and couldn’t. Is anyone in the process of writing a biography of R.H. Grenville? I would love to have one.
Beatrice Rowley (RH Grenville) is one of the sample entries we have posted on our project webpage (still in development). It’s a short bio, but you might find it interesting. A full-length narrative would be wonderful! Her poetry remains so popular even today. http://beta.cwrc.ca/islandora/object/islandora%3A55b94201-9296-4b7f-b97c-01922209030d
If that doesn’t work, Google “Beatrice Rowley cwrc”
Have you got in your material on R H Grenville her poem “Warning”
Regards
Max Buckley
I’ve just posted it for you – https://ceww.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/warning-by-r-h-grenville-beatrice-rowley/
We have a plethora of her poetry, some unpublished, and a bibliography of many poems that are online in a database that is sadly behind a pay-wall (accessible through universities – and other libraries, I would assume).