Phil-o-rum's Canoe, and Madeleine Vercheres: Two Poems

Two vivid narrative poems bring the Canadian wilderness to life through humor, memory, and courage. In the first, aging woodsman Phil-o-rum Juneau crosses the waterways in his battered canoe, grumbling at its sluggishness—until the canoe answers back. Their lively conversation becomes a tender reckoning with shared adventures, hard travel, changing strength, and the bond between a traveler and the faithful craft that has carried him through storms, rapids, portages, and lonely nights.

The second poem turns to the heroic past of New France. Addressing a child, the narrator recalls Indian wars, burning settlements, and the dangers faced by the people of the early colonies before introducing Madeleine Vercheres, a young figure associated with extraordinary bravery. Its opening blends the peaceful beauty of summer with an atmosphere of gathering peril, inviting listeners into a stirring historical tale.

Together, these poems balance comic frontier storytelling with earnest remembrance. Rich dialect, natural imagery, and dramatic verse create an intimate picture of northern life, where age, loyalty, wilderness, and courage meet.