The Oberon Poetry Collection

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of English at the University of Prince
Edward Island.

This commendably pocket-sized volume takes the form of selections of
poems by well-known Canadian authors, many of whom have already
published their work in larger anthologies. All poets in the collection
were included by personal invitation of the editor, who thereby ensured
a high standard of entry. Each poet’s work is prefaced by a short
introduction written either by the poet or by someone with close
knowledge.

These poems are not cast in the heroic mould, but are instead
“familiar matter of today” —the stuff of common experience and the
ever-shifting mosaic of human emotions, to which the reader easily
relates. Bronwen Wallace’s “A Stubborn Grace” is worthy of special
praise, with its close affinity to C.S. Lewis’s own poignant account
of the dying joy in “A Grief Observed.”

Ben Jonson once said of a poet, “Speak that I may see thee.” These
poets do just that; and a goodly company they are to be in!