Pioneer Woman

Susan McKnight is an administrator with the Ontario government.

Betty Sanders Garner’s poems have been published in many anthologies
and periodicals. In Pioneer Women, her first collection of poems, she
celebrates the history, people, flora, and fauna of Canada.

The book is divided into six section. The first two sections comprise
lake and sea scenarios, while the third section, “Animals Tracks,”
paints small portraits of some of Canada’s more common wild
creatures—the fox, the crow, the hummingbird. Section 4, “Suddenly
Daisies,” treats every season of the year as special in its own right;
in this section, a lovely poem entitled “The Vase” is set in type to
resemble the outline of a vase of flowers.

The pioneer history of Canada is celebrated in the next section. Most
of these poems involve a spirit from the past—ghosts of pioneer
children, women, and gnarled old men. Although sad, these poems lack the
overpowering sense of desolation and hopelessness present in actual
pioneer journals, such as those of Susanna Moodie. Most beautiful is
“Pioneer Cemetery,” in which the poet states in closing, “I latch
the past within.”

The book ends with “The Founding Years,” a series of poems written
as pioneer journals between the years 1830 and 1851. These poems
emphasize the courage, strength, and resolve of Canada’s early
settlers, as well as their high hopes for a better life in their new
homeland.