The Poetic World and Visions of E.J. Pratt:

The Poetic World and Visions of E.J. Pratt:

Although elements of Canadian history and cultural experience have always been notable sources of inspiration for the vast majority of Canadian Poets - it was through the gradual entrance of Darwinism that the concept of modernity was revolutionized and the traditional notion of poetic practice subverted. Very much a part of the modernist movement was free-verse enthusiast and Canadian poet Edward John Pratt - popularly known as E.J. Pratt - whose emergence into the Canadian literary scene was instrumental in the transmission and longevity of Canadian modern tradition. Not only did Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and T.H Huxley’s cosmology provide an impetus for literary reform and prompt revolution in poetic thinking - they were also the defining features that helped characterize Pratt’s poetic world. In fact, according to Sandra Djwa, Pratt’s poetry sought to “look upon life with the eyes of Thomas Huxley who saw the ethical and the cosmic in perpetual struggle.” Pratt, in much of his major poetic works, displays a blatant interest in examining humanity’s struggle with nature. Nature for Pratt - either acting as a reference to the natural features and the products of the cosmos or to human nature and man’s inherent propensity to sin. This paper will seek to emphasize the manner in which Pratt’s poetry expounds on the conflict between man and nature while highlighting thematic concepts of heroism and death along with how they are reflected within this relationship.

In Pratt’s long poem The Titanic, a re-telling of the renowned marine tragedy, the perils of mankind’s struggle with human nature and external nature are portrayed through man’s destructive sense of pride in the construction of the ship and through the iceberg’s symbolism. Essentially, Pratt depicts the harmlessness of nature as an illusion that derives its strength from man’s ignorance.

The original issue that forced the passengers and crew members to suffer tragedy in The Titanic was their folly. In other words, man’s prideful nature nurtures the belief that humans are impervious to devastation brought on by natural disasters. In the opening stanza, there is no awareness of danger. In fact, it is through man’s overweening sense of pride that the improbability of danger is suggested. The narrator of the poem confidently asserts how “no wave could sweep those upper decks” and even goes as far as to confirm that The Titanic is “the perfect ship at last - the first unsinkable!” Even with the improvements of this scientific creation - man’s pride in the ships design induces the passengers to misjudge the severity of the situation and forsake “the bone and marrow judgement of the sailor” (The Roosevelt and the Antinoe). More specifically, the captain and crewmen exult the modern vessel to such