Weathers: Poems New and Selected

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

In this collection of poems written since 1985, Douglas Lochhead
captures the natural feel of Canada as a landscape, from the streets of
Ottawa to the primordial beauty of Cape Breton. His use of colour,
flora, and fauna accentuate his descriptions of rich autumn scenes, the
mystery of the sea, and the beauty of Christmas snows. The vastness of
the land contrasts perfectly with the detail of a petal or a single
leaf, infusing the air with smells of rich soil, dry winds, seasons in
perfection. On the human or emotional front, the poet’s understanding
of suffering and loss is beautifully defined in “Black Festival,”
which follows the last days of someone’s life in 53 short yet deeply
intimate stanzas.

Lochhead teaches Atlantic literature at the University of New
Brunswick, Saint John.