A fierce and deeply moving collection that leaves a mark.
Gutteridge creates his poems out of history, folklore, and myth, and he has been thoroughly successful. Penetrating and poignant, this collection of long narrative poems, which he wrote during his early twenties, traces the harrowing journey of early French-Canadian explorers, missionaries, and fur traders. The book offers poems on Champlain, LaSalle, the Jesuits in Huronia, the indigenous tribes, such as the Huron-Wendat, Algonquin, and Innu among others, delving into the hardships of their voyages and trade, their courage and determination, and their grit. It also examines the human spirit of adventure, exploration, and survival. But it’s one theme that is consistent: death, which emerges victorious over men, both ordinary and great: “We found them much later: the Mohican dead / In the grass, the two others butchered nearby,/ And heard from the gullets of those black thieves the most/ Blasphemous cawing a good man ever knew:/ ‘There thou liest, thou great Bashaw! ’ they rattled/ In their frenzy. Then we found him, the Master,/ Bleeding among the thorns where they had thrown him.” He beautifully envisions a significant period in history, placing the reader into the early seventeenth century explorers and fur traders’ lives: from the Mississippi, Frontenac to Green Bay, from the Chippewayan hills to New Orleans, all these places come alive, and so do the people who trudged through these rough terrains. Extensively researched and beautifully rendered, this brilliant collection doubles as poetry and exploration of history based on fact.
Coureurs & Cassocks: Early Narratives
Don Gutteridge
Coming soon
