The Hidden Room, Vol. 1: Collected Poems

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

These two volumes of P.K. Page’s collected poems are designed for
poetry lovers rather than for academic scholars. The poems are arranged
thematically rather than chronologically; no information is offered
concerning where and when individual poems first appeared, nor are we
told which poems are appearing for the first time. A few have been given
different titles from those to which earlier admirers have become
accustomed. Some poems have been revised over the years, yet no textual
variants are provided; indeed, the edition contains no explanatory notes
of any kind. There are indexes of first lines in each volume but no
overall alphabetical list of titles.

I hasten to add that all this is stated as fact, not as criticism. The
Porcupine’s Quill is not an academic press, and, faithful to its
traditions, it offers here two attractively printed, beautifully
produced books, each with a color reproduction of one of Page’s
paintings on its cover, and a selection of her drawings, in black and
white, adorning the section divisions. It is easy to forget that reading
poetry is, in the best sense of the term, an esthetic pleasure, and
these books assure that it is a continuing delight.

Most important of all, a highly gratifying surprise awaits all
devotee’s of Page’s poetry: not only are there a remarkable number
of unfamiliar poems here—poems not present in The Glass Air (1991),
her most recent “Selected Poems”—but many of these are new and
rank with her very best work.

Constance Rooke once called P.K. Page “Canada’s finest poet.”
After a reading of The Hidden Room, I know she is right.