The Unsaid

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

Hall’s stated purpose in writing this book is (after Woody Guthrie)
“to dedicate myself . . . to singing about what is wrong / with how we
live.” He uses the confessional approach to reflect and comment on
people and events as they have variously influenced his life. A
distinctive section is devoted to his own family background. Hall is a
consummate craftsman with words. He “loads every rift with ore,” a
particular feature being his use of what may best be called the uncomic
pun. It is here that he demonstrates a remarkable sensitivity to the
shape and sound of words that spills over into echoic, new words.
Individual lines frequently become minipoems in themselves.

The collection is preceded by an evocative wood-cut print by J.E.
Millais entitled “The Death of the Old Year,” and concludes with
three most helpful pages of endnotes. Some of its poems have previously
appeared elsewhere.