Milt's homage to Kenneth Leslie: Ron Dart

                                              Kenneth Leslie and Jackpine Sonnets
 
                               Kenneth Leslie, poet, wrote it long and strong-lunged.
                               For his duty, critics ripped out his tongue.
                                                                                              Milton Acorn
                       
 “Poem of One of the Poems for Which Kenneth Leslie was Damned”

 
Kenneth Leslie was one of the finest poets of the people in Canada in the 20th century. Leslie was from the Maritimes, like Acorn, and the publication in 1972 of O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems was Leslie at his political and poetic best. Leslie had been nurtured, when young, by the Song Fisherman Poets, Robert Norwood, Bliss Carmen and C.D. Roberts. Leslie achieved poetic stardom of sorts with his being awarded the GG Award in 1938 for By Stubborn Stars, and from about 1939-1949 he was at the forefront (more than most) in opposing American fascism and the anti-semitic mood (he lived in both Boston and New York in those years) that often accompanied such an ethos. Leslie was editor of Protestant Digest (later The Protestant) in the 1940s, and the magazine, at its apex, had about 50,000 subscribers. The film, God’s Red Poet: The Life of Kenneth Leslie (2008), tells the tale of Leslie’s engaged life and tells it well. Leslie returned to Nova Scotia in 1949 as the FBI, Herbert Hoover and Senator Joseph McCarthy turned up the heat on communist sympathizers. In fact, Life magazine in May 1949 listed Leslie as the only Canadian of fifty leading “fellow travellers” and “innocent dupes” who furthered the communist cause: other worthies were Arthur Miller, Albert Einstein, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Norman Mailer, Charlie Chaplin, Thomas Mann and Langston Hughes.

Milton Acorn dipped his political and poetic bucket deep in the life giving well of Leslie’s life and writings. Jackpine Sonnets (1977) was published a few years after Leslie’s classic O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems and Acorn, again and again, doffs his cap to Leslie. Jackpine Sonnets begins with these words, “As Shakespeare would say—To the Onlie Begetter of these Poems”—Kenneth Leslie. The poetic missive begins, therefore, with a conscious indebtedness to Leslie, then hard on the heels of such a nod to Leslie is a quote from Leslie’s GG winning book, By Stubborn Stars: “I sail by stubborn stars. Let rocks take heed: and if I sink; then sinking be my creed”. There is a definite sense in which just as Acorn wrote More Poems for People (1972) as a building on the poetic-political life of Dorothy Livesay, Jackpine Sonnets stands of the shoulders of Kenneth Leslie. It is significant that More Poems for People was published the same year as O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems.

The first poem in Jackpine Sonnets is “By Still More Stubborn Stars” and it is, of course, dedicated to Kenneth Leslie. The sonnet is a hard driving and compact visionary poem that sums up what it means to be a poet of character and integrity, skill and wisdom, justice and insight. Acorn saw himself as standing in the line and lineage of Leslie (who had died in 1974). There is a distinct sense in which “By Still More Stubborn Stars” is a eulogy to Leslie that sums up his poetic and political.

The main essay in Jackpine Sonnets is ‘Tirade by Way of Introduction’, and in this article Acorn  tracks and traces the history of some of the main themes of Canadian poetry, the essential Anglo-Canadian romantic connection and the origins of the jackpine sonnet---again Acorn turns to Leslie as his mentor and guide in his discussion of the sonnet. Acorn had this to say about the role of Leslie:
 
                 When we come to the loveliest of our orthodox sonneteers, Kenneth Leslie, the battle
                 for the Canadian voice is being fought, and he is winning it…….In Leslie the jackpine
                 sonnet is already there; but he uses it inconspicuously and rarely, always wanting to
                 give his readers the impression that what they see is an orthodox sonnet, however
                 unorthodox the content.

There is many a fine historic insight in ‘Tirade by Way of Introduction’ but there can be no doubt that yet again Leslie factors large in Acorn’s rethinking of both the form and content of the sonnet. Both Leslie and Acorn are redefining the sonnet, being careful to remain with the historic sonnet roots, but making the jackpine more flexible as it bends and grows throughout the seasons and winds of time---the poetic form is more willow like, the content more radical. It is in this sense, using the sonnet as a metaphor into the poetic vision of Leslie and Acorn, we can see are profoundly conservative both are and yet equally radical.

Jackpine Sonnets opens with a poem dedicated to Leslie and building on By Stubborn Stars, and the poetic missive comes, almost, to a close with another poem dedicated to Leslie: “Poem of One of the Poems for Which Kenneth Leslie was Damned”. The poem that Acorn is alluding to is Leslie’s longer poem (O’Malley to the Reds) in O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems. “O’Malley to the Reds” is a well told poetic-political drama that deals with the miners of Princess Shaft, Moses Coady and the tensions between the hard line ideological left and the religious humanitarian left. There can be no doubt where both Leslie and Acorn plant their flag. Both Acorn’s shorter sonnet and Leslie’s much longer graphic and not to be forgotten poem highlight the obvious affinities between them as both align themselves with the religious humanitarian left---both are, in a sense, Red Tories of the highest calibre and quality.

It is virtually impossible to read Jackpine Sonnets (1977) without a feel for the life and writings of Kenneth Leslie. Leslie died in 1974, and O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems was published in 1972.
Jackpine Sonnets is both a eulogy to Leslie and is similar to Acorn’s More Poems For People (dedicated to Dorothy Livesay). There is a significant sense in which Livesay’s Poems for People, Leslie’s O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems and Acorn’s More Poems for People and Jackpine Sonnets embody the pure gold of Canadian Peoples’ political poetry.

Ron Dart        
     
     

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Poems of Kenneth Leslie  
Governor General's Award 1938
Introduction   Kenneth Leslie is the son of Western Society , the father of Gloria Wenk and Grandfather of Brigid Wendover, my wife and mother of my two daughters, Heidrun Tara Arthursdottir and Dagbjort Dipa Arthursdottir. This statement may raise a few questions which I will not try to answer here. 
I met him, 1975, once in a Halifax hospital. He was paralyzed and unable to walk or speak. Not the man that one thinks of. There I met Nora, his wonderful wife, by his side. 
I have taken the time to scan a number of poems from a poem book he published in 1972, called O’Malley to the Reds & other Poems. 
I have also scanned some sheet music which includes Cape Breton Lullaby. 
Arthur Wendover 
 
 
 
ARNOLD SCHOOL TO HARVARD 
 
KENNETH LESLIE attended a one-room private school in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, known as the Arnold School located near the famous Victoria Park with its magnificent statue of Robert Burns. He played Rugby and Cricket. He studied Latin at an early age. 
The school was conducted by "Duck" Wad-dell, the Haligonian version of the Irish hedge-schoolmaster, a never-to-be-forgotten experience. He graduated from Dalhousie University, then studied a year at Colgate Theological Seminary where he helped form the Socialist Club. 
 
 
 
Then he continued studies at Nebraska University (MA) and Harvard where he passed exams for Ph.D. but failed the lingual test. 
 
KENNETH LESLIE 
1074 WELLINGTON STREET HALIFAX, 
NOVA SCOTIA CANADA 
1972 
 
 
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Available from Porcupine's Quill:

Typeset in Adobe Jenson. Printed on acid-free Zephyr Antique laid. Smyth sewn into sixteen page signatures with hand-tipped endleaves, front and back.

POETRY / Canadian
POETRY / General
ISBN-10: 0889843287
EAN-13: 9780889843288
Publication Date: 2010-03-01
Dimensions: 8.75 in x 5.56 in
Pages: 64
Price: $14.95

 

James Deahl on Acorn's "Jackpine Sonnets" (Poetry is Dead magazine)

May 14, 2012


Dear Chris,

     Here is a copy of my interview that was published in Poetry Is Dead magazine.

. . . James




Poetry Is Dead is working with Geist magazine on the Jackpine Sonnet Contest. Milton Acorn, who coined the Jackpine Sonnet, has left behind him a legacy in form. Poetry Is Dead met up with Acorn’s longtime friend and fellow poet James Deahl to talk more about his work and what he left behind.

Poetry Is Dead: Where did you and Milton Acorn become acquainted, and how did each of you affect each other's poetry?

James Deahl: I met Milton in Toronto on November 25, 1972 at the “Revive the Spirit of ‘37” festival. A photograph of Milton Acorn and Cedric Smith performing at this festival is on the cover of The Island Means Minago. We were friends until Milton’s death in Charlottetown on August 20, 1986. From Milton I learned what it means to be a poet dedicated to the Muse or, as he would say, the Goddess. He illustrated in his life and work what is means to live a life in poetry.

I think he learned from me that a poet can have a life outside poetry.

PID: Can you recall how the jackpine sonnet came about?

JD: While Milton and I were friends for almost fourteen years, there was a period when we saw little of each other. This was because he was having psychological problems and I was coming to terms with the breakdown of my first marriage. At this time he developed his jackpine sonnet. I do know, however, that Milton was inspired by the irregular sonnets of Robert Lowell. Lowell had first published Notebook (later republished in two volumes as History and For Lizzie and Harriet) in 1970, which was followed by The Dolphin. These publications introduced the Lowellian sonnet to the world. Milton was quite impressed by this approach. Lowell described his new sonnet development as: “unrhymed, loose blank verse sonnets, a roomier stanza . . . It can say almost anything conversation or correspondence can.” Milton would agree. The difference is that Lowell varied the stresses in his line. Milton also varied the stresses in his line as well as the number of lines in his sonnet.

PID: From yours and Milton Acorn's past, there shows a lot of success in starting awards, organizations and print-based mediums. What was it like for Canadian (or in your case, American/Canadian) poets in the 70's to 80's?

JD: It was a richer, more exciting time during the 1970s and 1980s. When I moved to Canada in 1970, the giants of Canadian poetry — Kenneth Leslie (a great sonnet writer), Frank Scott, A.J.M. Smith, Ron Everson, Earle Birney, A.M. Klein, Dorothy Livesay, Irving Layton, Louis Dudek, Al Purdy, etc. — were still alive. I heard readings by most of them, and got to know poets like Birney, Livesay, Layton, and Purdy. And major trade publishers were issuing books by emerging poets. Doubleday, Macmillan, McClelland & Stewart, Oxford University Press, and Stoddart/General Publishing were all actively publishing Canadian poets. Now all are out of the poetry business entirely or only publishing authors they have already published. Today, there is no opportunity for a poet under the age of fifty to have a book with a major trade publisher.

Sales of poetry books both to libraries and to the public have fallen to very low levels. This is because the literary publishers cannot market nationally. As a direct result of this, poetry is much more regional these days. Aside from Ray Souster, Margaret Atwood, Pat Lane, and Joe Rosenblatt, there are no national poets.

Of course, I do not wish to disparage the literary press. Milton co-founded Steel Rail Educational Publishing while I co-founded Mekler & Deahl, Publishers. But these did not replace Stoddart/General, Doubleday, or Macmillan.

PID: The jackpine sonnet, turns form on it's head. Was this a playful action, or was this a comment on form poetry?

JD: Milton had always written sonnets, but they were formal, rhymed poems. And he continued to write formal sonnets until his death. Starting in the mid-1970s he also wrote Jackpine Sonnets. In this development, Milton wanted the sort of freedom Lowell spoke of.

In Milton’s view, as well as in mine, the Lowellian sonnet allowed Robert Lowell to address topics in a direct and, to a degree, non-poetic manner. Both Lowell’s sonnet and Acorn’s sonnet speak to the public in a way not common in their other poetry. If you consider Robert Lowell’s Poems (Faber and Faber, 1974) you will see a great change in the poetics when Notebook is published. The same is true of Milton’s work. After Jackpine Sonnets (Steel Rail, 1977), there is a very noticeable change.

This begs the question: Is this a change for the better or not? But that must be left to each individual reader. I would like to note that several Canadian poets, Jeff Seffinga, Mark Gordon, and myself among them, do write Jackpine Sonnets.

PID: From what I can gather (and from what poems I have read of yours and Milton Acorn's), there is a lot of playfulness in subject and theme. Was this a common occurrence in yours and Milton Acorn's poetry?

JD: While Milton is better known for his nature poetry, his political poetry, and his love poetry, he wrote many wonderful humorous poems. These are, in my opinion, undervalued. Milton and I shared an apartment for a couple of years prior to his return to Prince Edward Island. I can tell you he had a great sense of humour. It shows in his poetry.

PID: What are your thoughts on the Canadian landscape of poetry today? Has it changed? For the better or for the worse?

JD: As I have indicated, Canadian poetry is in poor shape these days. During the last half of the 20th century there were more major poets writing and reading all across Canada. There was more trade publishing. And, I would argue, there were more first rate magazines open to poetry, and not just literary magazines. The CBC had a program called “Anthology” — a lot was happening in the mass media. Not so long ago there was a lively national literature here. This was, of course, in addition to lively regional literatures. Very soon Canada will have no national literature because our national writers are seventy years old or older.

While Canada does have some very good poets, today we have no Milton Acorn, Dorothy Livesay, Al Purdy, or Irving Layton. I believe that we enjoyed a Golden Age of poetry from about 1960 to the turn of the century. The death of Purdy brought the curtain down on this era.

The fact is that regional poets and regional literary presses — as interesting and vital as they may be — cannot replace national poets and national publishers.

Like most Canadian writers, I hope for the best and await developments.