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Charles Heavysege (May 2, 1816 – July 14, 1876) was a Canadian poet and dramatist. "He was one of the first serious poets to emerge in Canada, and his play ''Saul'' was hailed on its appearance as the greatest verse drama in English since the time of Shakespeare." 〔"(Charles Heavysege )," ''Gale Encyclopedia of Biography'', Answers.com. Web, Mar. 12, 2011.〕 ==Life and writing== Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, Heavysege emigrated to Montreal in 1853 where he worked as a wood carver. In 1860 he became a reporter for the Montreal ''Transcript'', and later for the ''Montreal Daily Witness'', where he eventually became city editor.〔"(Heavysege, Charles )." Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Web, Mar. 12, 2011.〕 As a poet, Heavysege was mainly influenced by "Milton, Shakespeare, and the ''Bible''." 〔Rota Herzberg Lister, "(Heavysege, Charles )." ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 974.〕 His first published work was ''The revolt of Tartarus'', a poem in six parts, published in two editions: one under his own name in London in 1852, and a second, heavily edited and published anonymously in Montreal, in 1855.〔Sandra Djwa, "(Charles Heavysege Biography )," ''Encyclopedia of Literature, 7989, JRank.org, Web, Apr. 28, 2011.〕 He published ''Sonnets'' in 1855, ''Saul: a drama in three parts'' in 1857, ''Count Filippo; or, the unequal marriage'' in 1860, ''The Owl'' (an imitation of Poe's "The Raven") and ''The Huntsman'' in 1864, ''The Advocate'' (a prose work) and ''Jephthah’s daughter'' in 1865, and ''Jezebel'' in 1867.〔 During his lifetime, ''Saul'' was Heavysege's best-known work. Nathaniel Hawthorne passed on a copy to the ''North British Review'',〔 where it was given a laudatory (unsigned) review by Coventry Patmore, who called it "indubitably the best poem ever written out of Great Britain."〔 That was followed by further favorable reviews in the ''Atlantic Monthly'', ''Galaxy'', and ''New York Evening Post''. ''Saul'' was published in two further editions, in 1859 (also in Montreal) and 1869 (in Boston).〔 (The Boston edition was reprinted in 1876 and again in 1967.) Other admirers of ''Saul'' were Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.〔 Highly regarded in the 1860s and 1870s, Heavysege "was one of the first of the Anglo-Canadian poets to achieve international recognition; he paved the way for later poets such as Charles Sangster and Charles G.D. Roberts."〔 W.D. Lighthall, who included Heavysege's work in his 1889 anthology ''Songs of the Great Dominion'', wrote of him: "His work is in no sense distinctively Canadian. Canadians do not read him; but they claim him as perhaps their greatest, most original writer, if they could weigh him aright and appreciate him; and he will probably always command their awe, and refuse to be forgotten."〔William Douw Lighthall, ''(Songs of the Great Dominion ): Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada'' (Walter Scott (Series ), 1889), Google Books, Web, Apr. 30, 2011.〕 However, his reputation declined in later decades: "In the nationalist 1920's critics disparaged Heavysege's poetry on the grounds that he was not really a Canadian writer, although he continued to be read by poets like W.W.E. Ross, Ralph Gustafson, and A.J.M. Smith.... Today his crude but vigorous poetry is underrated by Canadian criticism."〔"(Charles Heavysege )," ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Bookrags.com. Web, Mar. 12, 2011.〕 In 1956, while dismissing ''Saul'' and ''Count Filippo'' as "Victorian dinosaurs," Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye acknowledged Heavysege as the "first poet who really came to grips with" what Frye considered to be "the central Canadian tragic theme" (that being "the indifference of nature to human values"): "His third poem, ''Jephthah's Daughter'', seems to me to reflect more directly the influence of his Canadian environment, as its main themes are loneliness, the indifference of nature, and the conception of God as a force of nature." 〔Northrop Frye, "(Preface to an Uncollected Anthology )," ''The Bush Garden'' (Toronto: Anansi, 1971), 171.〕 ''Saul'' was produced as a radio drama by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1974.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Heavysege」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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