Acknowledgements


 

This book is dedicated to four men to whom I owe a great deal in very many ways. To me, and to many, many others, John Graham, Geoffrey Rans, Dick Stingle, and Ross Woodman have been inspiring examples of an increasingly rare breed, the superb and dedicated teacher of English. They have also been continual and enriching sources of ideas, insights, information, and that generous contention which is the hallmark of the true colleague. More, they have been founts of wisdom, conduits for what Archibald Lampman called "The Clearer Self" and "The Larger Life." I am sure that I speak for countless of their students and colleagues, past and present, when I attest to the extraordinary ability of John Graham, Geoffrey Rans, Dick Stingle, and Ross Woodman to spark the gap between litterature and life, and to energize both in the process. The Department of English at the University of Western Ontario was greatly richer for their presence and, though their legacy lives on, the Department has been greatly impoverished by their retirement.

To R.J. Shroyer, my partner in the project of editing early Canadian long poems, I owe a special debt and many thanks; without his computing skills, his shrewd insights, and his unstinting gifts of time and enthusiasm, this edition and the series that surrounds it would not exist. For assistance with research on The Charivari, I owe debts to Susan Bailey, Christopher Brown, Wanda Campbell, Jim Devereux, Richard Green, Tania Henley, Les Mureson, Fernand Ouellet, William Parker, Maureen Ryan, Tracy Ware, Mary Lu MacDonald, and Neville Thompson. To Gerard Stafleu, Luminica Topale, Thérèse Clohosey and, again, Susan Bailey I am deeply grateful for their excellent work on the computer and their infinite patience with my handwriting.

My final debt, as always, is to my family—Susan, Michael, Simon and Diana—for their continuous love, support and encouragement.