Wilson MacDonald
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Wilson Pugsley MacDonald (May 5, 1880 – April 8, 1967) was a popular
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
poet who "was known mainly in his own time for his considerable platform abilities" as a reader of his poetry. By reading fees, and by selling his books at readings, he was able to make a living from his poetry alone.Wilson (Pugsley) MacDonald Biography
, ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', BookRags.com, Web, May 10, 2011.
In the 1920s he was so popular that, according to writer John Robert Colombo, "his fame eclipsed that of Robert Service and
Pauline Johnson Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk language, Mohawk stage name Tekahionwake (pronounced ''dageh-eeon-wageh'', ), was a Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the late 19th and earl ...
." John Robert Colombo,
Wilson MacDonald
, ''Canadian Literary Landmarks'' (Hamilton: Dundurn, 1984), 205, Google Books, Web, May 10, 2011.


Life

Wilson MacDonald was born in Cheapside, now part of the city of Haldimand, Ontario. He attended
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
, and graduated in 1902. Douglas Fetherling,
MacDonald, Wilson Pugsley
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1262.
He began publishing poetry in the
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
''
Globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...
'' in 1899, while still a student. Canadian poet Albert E. S. Smythe described MacDonald as a "slight, lithe, graceful Italian figure, the same dark eyes and olive complexion, the same inscrutable smile of the shy but friendly soul". After graduating, MacDonald worked at a number of jobs. As he later wrote: "I have been, in my varied career, a view agent, seaman, cabin-boy, bartender (one night), school-teacher, actor, inventor, producer, playwright, composer, advertisement writer, newspaper reporter, editorial writer, columnist, banker, and poet. When my poetry would not sell, circumstances forced these other tasks upon me." His first collection of poetry, ''Song of the Prairie Land'', was published in 1918. In 1921 MacDonald self-published a book of
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
poetry called ''The Miracle Songs of Jesus''. Because he refused to be anything but a fully committed poet, now that he had been published, in the early 1920s "MacDonald managed to" find a way to "supplement his income by engaging in lengthy and rather successful tours of readings and lectures". He became what Doug Fetherling in the ''
Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Co ...
'' called "a barnstorming versifier with an unbending faith in his own greatness". MacDonald travelled both
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the northern
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
reciting his poetry in large city and small town alike. "His personal shyness disappeared on stage, where he became dynamic; humming, chanting, and singing, he synchronized his whole performance to make poems come alive for his audience." MacDonald was not the first Canadian poet to make a living from performance; Pauline Johnson had done so 30 years before. But he is the first noted for merchandising his tours. Fetherling noted, with an apparent shudder, MacDonald's books that "he himself hawked at his 'recitals. And not just books. MacDonald "was something of an artist, a designer. Frequently he illustrated his own poems and dabbled with illumination and typography." There are many examples online of individual poems illustrated or calligraphed by MacDonald, which look like merchandising aimed at those unwilling or unable to buy a whole book. Of course, everything bought at a performance could also be autographed; MacDonald, like George Moore before him, or A. Edward Newton, was an author whose books are seldom found unsigned. MacDonald's most popular work, ''Out of the Wilderness'' (1926), went into ten editions. Critics seldom paid attention to his work, and his work was not taught in schools. MacDonald went around that barrier by reciting his poetry for free in high school auditoriums across Canada, paying for it with his merchandising. "He was the one poet a generation or two of Canadian students had ever seen or heard." A fan club, the Wilson MacDonald Poetry Society, was active in several cities, including in the United States, "and at least one such group still survives". From 1953 on, when MacDonald was in his 70s and no longer performing, the Poetry Society supported him financially. He died in Toronto on April 8, 1967.


Writing

In a 1933 talk on "Canadian Poetry in its Relation to The Poetry of England and America", Charles G. D. Roberts singled out MacDonald as one of three postwar poets representative of modern trends. Roberts said of him: "Wilson MacDonald is purely a lyricist, with a very wide range of form and theme. His best work is forged in the white heat of emotion and is always definitely stamped with his own personality. It is primarily ''subjective''. In his shorter, personal lyrics, such as 'Exit,' he achieves at times an unforgettable poignancy. In his passionately humanitarian poems he is modem in spirit, but in form he is distinctly classical."Charles G.D. Roberts, "Canadian Poetry in its Relation to The Poetry of England and America", ''Canadian Poetry: Studies/Documents/Reviews'' No. 3 (Fall/Winter 1978), CanadianPoetry.ca, UWO, Web, May 10, 2011. (''Italics in original.'') The ''Encyclopedia of Literature'' praised technical aspects of MacDonald's poetry "The poems are invariably well balanced because of his musical interest; parts of stanzas are repeated for emphasis and direction — as major melodies in music would be — with other lines juxtaposed to heighten the emotional effect." Fetherling was frankly dismissive: "It is surprising the extent to which MacDonald was often taken seriously as an artist and equally surprising that genuine poems or hints of them can sometimes be discovered in his collections by those willing to wade through his vapid
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
and pre-
modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
conventions." Some of MacDonald's poetry certainly does not hold up: for example, the books ''Caw-Caw Ballads'' and ''Paul Marchand and Other Poems'', which employ dialect verse – here the French-Canadian habitant dialect of English popularized by William Henry Drummond – more entertaining if heard performed rather than read, and even then more embarrassing than entertaining. Other pieces of MacDonald's work stand the test of time. The title poem of his collection ''Out of the Wilderness'' has something of the strength of Walt Whitman – "I, a vagabond, gypsy, lover forever of freedom, / Come, / Come to you who are arrogant, proud, and fevered with civilization – / Come with a tonic of sunlight, bottled in wild careless acres,/ To cure you with secrets as old as the breathing of men." Roberts said of that poem that MacDonald "has been so bold as to experiment frankly with Whitman's peculiar form and content, and he has justified the experiment. He has succeeded at times in breathing into that harsh form a beauty of words and cadences which Whitman never achieved".


Recognition

The Wilson MacDonald Memorial School Museum near Selkirk in Haldimand (one of the schools MacDonald attended as a boy) has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Dedicated "to preserving the history of rural education, the heritage of the surrounding community, and the memory of poet Wilson Pugsley MacDonald", the museum "allows students to experience a typical day in a 1925 one-room rural school. Costumes, role playing, lessons and games help modern youngsters learn about their heritage and the history of education. The day-long programme is especially tailored to the school curriculum."Wilson MacDonald Memorial School Museum
" HaldimandCounty.on.ca, Web, May 11, 2011.


Publications


Poetry

*''The Song Of The Prairie Land and Other Poems''. Albert E. S. Smythe intr., Toronto: McClelland & Stewart,
1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
. *''The Miracle Songs Of Jesus''. Toronto: W. MacDonald,
1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...
. *''Out Of The Wilderness''. Ottawa: Graphic Publishers,
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
. New York, London: C. Scriber's Sons, 1926. *''An Ode On The Diamond Jubilee Of Confederation''. Toronto: W. MacDonald,
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
. *''Caw-Caw Ballads'' Montclair, NJ: Pine Tree Publishing,
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
. *''A Flagon Of Beauty''. Toronto: Pine Tree Publishing,
1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...
. *''Paul Marchand and Other Poems''. Guy Ritter illus., Toronto: Pine Tree Publishing,
1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
. *''Quintrains Of "Callender" and Other Poems''. Toronto: S. J. R. Saunders,
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
. *''The Song Of The Undertow and Other Poems''. Toronto, Buffalo: S. J. R. Saunders, Broadway P,
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
. *''Comber Cove''. Frank A. Stockwell illus., Toronto: S. J. R. Saunders,
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...
. *''Greater Poems Of The Bible: metrical versions, biblical forms, and original poems''.
1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 †...
. *''Armand Dussault''. Toronto: Macmillan,
1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
. Buffalo, NY: Broadway P, 1946. *''The Lyric Year''. Toronto: Ryerson,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
. Buffalo, NY: Foster & Stewart, 1952. *''Pugwash''. Toronto: Pine Tree Publishing,
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
. "No type is used in this book, It is unique in that it is one of the few books which reproduce the author's own handwriting".


Prose

*''On My Own in Moscow''. Toronto: Northern Book House,
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
. *''The Angels Of The Earth''. Toronto: Nelson,
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
.Search results: Wilson MacDonald
Open Library, Web, May 10, 2011.


Misc.

*''Wilson MacDonald's Western Tour, 1923–24'': a collage of letters (to, from and about Wilson MacDonald), newspaper clippings, poems, drawings and miscellaneous MacDonaldiana assembled by Stan Dragland. Toronto: Coach House, 1975.


References


External links


Wilson MacDonald's
entry in
The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

Wilson MacDonald's
entry in th
''Dictionary of Literary Biography''

Download Wilson MacDonald's Poetry on .PDF
* *
Wilson MacDonald fonds (R3604)
at
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Wilson 1880 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets People from Haldimand County