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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

Archibald Lampman – 28 May 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

Born in 1861 at Marpeth, Ontario, Archibald Lampman was one of the most important Canadian poets of the late 1800’s. As a boy, his health was permanently injured by rheumatic fever. After graduating from Trinity College in Toronto, he became a high school teacher. Later he worked in the Ottawa post office until his death in 1899.

Lampman’s original and sensitive work has earned him the place of Canada’s supreme nature poet. Lampman’s first book of poems, Among the Millet, had to be published at his own expense. A master of the sonnet, among his best are “The Frogs,” “Winter Uplands,” and “January Morning.” His Lyrics of Earth and Alcyone were published during his lifetime, but his Poems, published after his death.

Outlook
Archibald Lampman
1861-1899

Not to be conquered by these headlong days,
But to stand free: to keep the mind at brood
On life's deep meaning, nature's altitude
Of loveliness, and time's mysterious ways;
At every thought and deed to clear the haze
Out of our eyes, considering only this,
What man, what life, what love, what beauty is,
This is to live, and win the final praise.
Though strife, ill fortune, and harsh human need
Beat down the soul, at moments blind and dumb
With agony; yet, patience – there shall come
Many great voices from life's outer sea,
Hours of strange triumph, and, when few men heed,
Murmurs and glimpses of eternity.

For a collection of poems and stories, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetrydir.html

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