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A House in MemoryLast Poems |
eBook Available
A collection of unpublished poems by a distinguished poet and novelist.
the language of the waterway / the name / the train's route through bliss / to
When the poet and novelist David Helwig - a recipient of the Matt Cohen Prize for lifetime achievement and a member of the Order of Canada - died in October 2018, he left behind a substantial catalogue of unpublished work.
A House in Memory, a selection of Helwig's last poems, was assembled by his daughter, Maggie. It shows an author still at the height of his powers, creating work in complex formal structures, contemplating mortality, memory, and the landscape of his adopted home of Prince Edward Island, and paying tribute to his literary predecessors. The collection also includes unpublished poems from earlier in Helwig's career.
Ranging widely through time, space, and literary tradition, A House in Memory features some deeply personal poems. As Maggie Helwig says of her father, "he could not cease to be a poet as long as he had breath in this world.
When the poet and novelist David Helwig - a recipient of the Matt Cohen Prize for lifetime achievement and a member of the Order of Canada - died in October 2018, he left behind a substantial catalogue of unpublished work.
A House in Memory, a selection of Helwig's last poems, was assembled by his daughter, Maggie. It shows an author still at the height of his powers, creating work in complex formal structures, contemplating mortality, memory, and the landscape of his adopted home of Prince Edward Island, and paying tribute to his literary predecessors. The collection also includes unpublished poems from earlier in Helwig's career.
Ranging widely through time, space, and literary tradition, A House in Memory features some deeply personal poems. As Maggie Helwig says of her father, "he could not cease to be a poet as long as he had breath in this world.
Details
Part of the Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series (number 52 in series)
168 Pages, 5 x 7.5
ISBN 9780228001256
July 2020
Formats: Paperback, eBook
"Some yearn to be writers; others have no choice but to write. No one who knew David Helwig, or who read his work, could ever doubt what sort of writer he was. A House in Memory confirms what his readers have long known: that he was not only a compulsive poet but also one of tremendous range, depth, and eloquence." Steven Heighton, Governor General's Poetry Award winner for The Waking Comes Late
"This collection of last poems by the inimitable David Helwig is not so much an elegy as an exaltation of all that makes up a richly creative and compassionate life. David, we will always miss you - but oh, you've left us so much. Thank you." Diane Schoemperlen, Governor General's Fiction Award winner for Forms of Devotion
"This collection of last poems by the inimitable David Helwig is not so much an elegy as an exaltation of all that makes up a richly creative and compassionate life. David, we will always miss you - but oh, you've left us so much. Thank you." Diane Schoemperlen, Governor General's Fiction Award winner for Forms of Devotion
David Helwig (1938-2018) was the author of nearly fifty books of poetry, fiction, and essays. A longtime resident of Kingston, he spent his final years in Belfast, Prince Edward Island.
Foreword xi
I - LATE POEMS (2015-2018)
Waiting 3
Untitled (“The bright morning”) 6
Country Poems after Virgil’s Georgics 7
“ … Also in rejoicing …” 12
On your 18th 13
Night Words for All the Islands 14
Three Lyrics 15
Oedipus at the Crossroads 17
The Nieces 21
Rhymeless in Season 22
Quatrains 23
Quatre Études 25
Midsummer 30
High Up on the Top Floor 33
Clockwise 34
Dahlias 35
Enduring Prophecy 36
Thaw 37
Improvisations 38
Queen Anne’s Lace 42
MacDonald Park: September 2015 43
Polecat Song 45
Spring 46
May Rain 47
Nausicaa Meets a Stranger 48
Alien Newcomers 50
You, as a Stranger 52
Going Away Now 54
Travel Documents for All Souls 55
Envoi 58
Varadero, 2017 60
Epilogues to Summer 65
Hymn for No Singing 67
O Summerland 69
Prayer 73
Approaching the Strait 74
Dinner with Random Gods 75
(Les Préludes, Sonnet Before Creation) 77
Migration in Orange 78
The Pantheon 79
Pacific 80
Zinnias Imposed 82
The Art History Brief Sonnet 84
(Des tristes esprits: Sonnet from History) 85
Farmscape 86
A Shade-Sonnet Comes 87
Imitations of Hafiz 88
November Footnote (Moon) 90
II - A SELECTION OF EARLIER POEMS
The Wrong Side of the Park 92
Old Friends 93
Getting to Missouri 95
For Bill in April 100
Vine Street 101
At the Museum 102
Untitled (“Now that my face …”) 103
Travelling 105
Summer Again 109
Rosaceae 110
Self-Portrait: as an Old House 113
Damage 115
Memorial 116
Nocturne: John Field 117
Aubade 118
Gallus Absconditus 119
Illuminations 120
Kentville, October 122
Two Views 123
last lines 124
I - LATE POEMS (2015-2018)
Waiting 3
Untitled (“The bright morning”) 6
Country Poems after Virgil’s Georgics 7
“ … Also in rejoicing …” 12
On your 18th 13
Night Words for All the Islands 14
Three Lyrics 15
Oedipus at the Crossroads 17
The Nieces 21
Rhymeless in Season 22
Quatrains 23
Quatre Études 25
Midsummer 30
High Up on the Top Floor 33
Clockwise 34
Dahlias 35
Enduring Prophecy 36
Thaw 37
Improvisations 38
Queen Anne’s Lace 42
MacDonald Park: September 2015 43
Polecat Song 45
Spring 46
May Rain 47
Nausicaa Meets a Stranger 48
Alien Newcomers 50
You, as a Stranger 52
Going Away Now 54
Travel Documents for All Souls 55
Envoi 58
Varadero, 2017 60
Epilogues to Summer 65
Hymn for No Singing 67
O Summerland 69
Prayer 73
Approaching the Strait 74
Dinner with Random Gods 75
(Les Préludes, Sonnet Before Creation) 77
Migration in Orange 78
The Pantheon 79
Pacific 80
Zinnias Imposed 82
The Art History Brief Sonnet 84
(Des tristes esprits: Sonnet from History) 85
Farmscape 86
A Shade-Sonnet Comes 87
Imitations of Hafiz 88
November Footnote (Moon) 90
II - A SELECTION OF EARLIER POEMS
The Wrong Side of the Park 92
Old Friends 93
Getting to Missouri 95
For Bill in April 100
Vine Street 101
At the Museum 102
Untitled (“Now that my face …”) 103
Travelling 105
Summer Again 109
Rosaceae 110
Self-Portrait: as an Old House 113
Damage 115
Memorial 116
Nocturne: John Field 117
Aubade 118
Gallus Absconditus 119
Illuminations 120
Kentville, October 122
Two Views 123
last lines 124
