Benson, Irene Chapman. “To Bliss Carman.” The Crucible 4.1 (Autumn 1936): 2.

We all know Bliss Carman, of course, but who is Vera V. Robertson, and why has Irene Chapman Benson dedicated this poem to her? All we know at the moment is that she published poetry in the Winnipeg Free Press in the late 1930s, wrote the lyrics to a song, “Mary: A Christmas Carol for Ladies’ Voices,” in 1935, and won an award for her humorous verse in 1943.

To Bliss Carman
(Dedicated to Vera V. Robertson)

He made to live again the sunset hour
Long after shadows lengthened in the West;
And ‘twixt immortal pages he has pressed
The lilt of birds–the glory of the flower.
He brings again the throb of April shower
To hearts grown old. The weary and oppressed
Shall hear once more the pipes of Pan and rest
Midst dreams of youth in some cool woodland bower.
The thundering sea he loved–the soft south wind,
The northland far beyond the haunts of men;
All beauty that is Canada enshrined,
Sweet prisoners of the witchery of his pen,
In deathless verse his spirit dwells behind,
And in eternal music lives again.

 

The Crucible 4.1 (Autumn 1936): 2.