Lecture 6
The Canadian Authors Meet-
F.R.Scott
• “The Canadian Authors Meet” is a satirical poem by F.R.Scott. Francis Reginald Scott (1899-1985),
commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional
expert. He was the son of Frederick George Scott, a well-known Canadian poet and author, known
as the Poet of the Laurentians.
• R. Scott's poem “The Canadian Authors Meet” was first published in April 1927 in the McGill
Fortnightly Review. The poem is considered a well-known depiction of the Canadian Authors'
Association (CAA).
• In this poem, the poet mocks the insincerity of the Canadian poets.
• There is a poetic reflection that Canadian poetry should be mature, serious, and also of durable
quality.
• This poem is a scathing remark of the poets lauded by the socialites, and he satirizes their
superficial get-together as “popular Canadian authors”
The Canadian Authors Meet-
F.R.Scott
• The poet describes a pretentious group that has gathered over a cup of tea in a spacious,
cosy, old-fashioned hall, where the poets pour out their earnestness by standing in small
groups under a portrait of the Prince of Wales (as though patronized by the aristocrats),
and calling themselves as connoisseurs/devotees of literature.
• These writers are bloated with pride. They have gathered under “a portrait of the Prince
of Wales”. This shows how these so-called writers are still parasites and are in need of
patronage from Britain.
• Miss Crotchet’s “muse has somehow failed to function,/ Yet she’s a poetess” – she does
not write genuine poetry. She engages in gay chatters with others, exchanging remark
about the age of the members.
• Crotchet in music is a note having one-fourth the time value of a whole note. This may
mean that Miss Crotchet is a minor poet, negligible writer and a literary non-entity. To
cover her incompetence, she smiles in an affected way. “Victorian saintliness” “is her
fashion” as she is a snob.
The Canadian Authors Meet-
F.R.Scott
• The poet further mocks those who are still virgins in their 60s yet claim to write
love poems
• Scott’s remonstration and concern on Canadian Literature does not exclude
himself from the list of poets mentioned
• According to Scott, religion, politics, philanthropic habit, and enthusiasm for
God and King are the determining factors that assess and define a poet.
• They also discuss great poets like Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman, Charles G.D.
Roberts, William Wilfred Campbell and Frederick George Scott / Duncan
Campbell Scott. These men are all very influential Canadian poets, who wrote
Victorian and Romantic poetry, something to which Scott was opposed. But they
are not measured for their literary merits but for their religious faith and charity.
“Their zeal for God and King”
The Canadian Authors Meet-
F.R.Scott
• In other words, the poet attacks the para-literary considerations and
motives in judging a poet and his work.
• Describes the delightful party where sweetmeats are served, “but
sweeter is the feeling/ That one is mixing with the literati;” – referring
to an obsequious flattering atmosphere
• The seriousness of the literary meeting is conspicuous by its very
absence, as everything non-literary happens here
• Scott laments over the deplorable multiplicity of writers and their
superficial concerns.
The Canadian Authors Meet-
F.R.Scott
• For these self-styled writers, there is no difference between a simple Nursery
school rhyme like “Shall we go round the mulberry bush” or the Christian hymn
“Shall we gather at the river”. Their motive is to find a private place for their private
affairs, that can be behind a “mulberry bush” or on the banks of a “river.” The
appointment of a Poet Laureate is spoken in the same breath as having another
cup of tea. It is ironic that these poets should feel competent enough to select
the Poet Laureate. Everything non-literary happens here.
• In anguish, he cries out “O Canada, O Canada”. Scott in clear hues presents how
these ordinary writers “paint the native maple” (Country – Canada) with
substandard writing. (The maple leaf is the most widely recognized national symbol
of Canada). These writers repeat the ideas of their predecessors. Nothing is new in
their writing as same things are duplicated.
