E. J. Pratt (1883–1964)

Author of Collected Poems

24+ Works 103 Members 1 Review

About the Author

E. J. Pratt is considered to be the poet who initiated the Canadian modernist movement. Yet, unlike his literary contemporaries, Pratt was attracted to the convention of epic poetry: Brebeuf and His Brethren (1940) and Towards the Last Spike (1952) are impressive examples of this style and are also show more ambitious attempts to forge a national mythology through verse. Edwin John Pratt was born at Western Bay, Newfoundland. As he grew up in this desolate coastal town, Pratt's association with the sea impressed him with an image that would later reverberate throughout his poetry. Although trained as a Methodist minister, Pratt evidently experienced a crisis of faith following his studies in philosophy and psychology at the University of Toronto, where he received a Ph.D. in theology. In 1920, largely because of his promise as a poet, he was given an English professorship at Victoria College, University of Toronto, a post from which he retired in 1953. Pratt's verse is aptly described by E. K. Brown as the "work of an experimenter who is continuing to clutch at a tradition although that tradition is actually stifling him." show less

Includes the names: e pratt, E.J. Pratt, Edwin John Pratt, E.J. Peter (editor) Pratt Buitenhuis

Works by E. J. Pratt

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Collected Poems (1945) 19 copies

Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940) 13 copies

Behind the log (1947) 10 copies

Here the tides flow (1962) 7 copies

E.J. Pratt: Complete Poems (Collected Works of E.J. Pratt) (Pt 1 and 2) (1989) 7 copies

Selected Poems of E.J. Pratt (1968) 7 copies

Towards the last spike : a verse-panorama of the struggle to build the first Canadian transcontinental from the time of… (1952) 5 copies

Complete poems : Part 1 4 copies

The witches' brew (1925) 3 copies

Roosevelt and the Antinoe, The 3 copies

The Fable of the Goats, and other poems 3 copies

Heroic Tales in Verse (1941) 3 copies

Ten Selected Poems (1947) 3 copies

Newfoundland Verse (1923) 2 copies

Verses of the sea 2 copies

Poems for upper school : with notes and questions 2 copies

The Iron Door 2 copies

Complete poems : Part 2 2 copies

Titans (1926) 1 copy

Pursuits amateur and academic : the selected prose of E.J. Pratt (1995) 1 copy

The Titanic (1935) 1 copy

Many Moods 1 copy

They are Returning 1 copy

The Shark Sea-Gulls (2009) 1 copy

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Associated Works

Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) — Editor, some editions — 2,232 copies

All Sails Set (1948) — Contributor — 8 copies

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Pratt, E. J.
Legal name: Pratt, Edwin John
Birthdate: 1883-02-04
Date of death: 1964-04-26
Gender: male
Nationality: Canada
Birthplace: Western Bay, Newfoundland, Canada
Place of death: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education: University of Toronto (Victoria College)
Occupations: poet
teacher
Organizations: Canadian Authors Association
Awards and honors: Lorne Pierce Medal (1940)

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Reviews

The Collected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Ed. By Northrop… by E. J. Pratt

It takes guts to write long long long narrative verse in this age. So I am very much admiring Pratt's guts. However, sometimes guts get in the way. By which I mean, in one of his poems a giant whale battles a giant squid to the death, and chews on it's squishy guts. I am not sure how often giant whales and giant squids battle to the death, but somehow I doubt they do it with this much relish.
Also, in Brebeuf and his Brethren, similar relish is taken by Huron and Six Nations people in torture and savagery. I know Pratt was a man of his times, even behind the times. But his depiction of Native people and wildlife seems wildly inaccurate to me.
But man, he sure can hold your attention for pages and pages of blank verse.… (more)

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funfunyay | Aug 6, 2009 |

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