author
Wilfred S. (Wilfred Stradling) Skeats
1864–1934
Best remembered for a long narrative poem set between Britain and Canada, this late-19th-century writer explored exile, belonging, and the emotional cost of starting over. His work has the feel of a personal journey shaped into an epic.
1 Audiobook
The song of the exile : a Canadian epic
by Wilfred S. (Wilfred Stradling) Skeats
About the author
Wilfred S. Skeats, or Wilfred Stradling Skeats, was born in Croydon, England, on April 23, 1864, and died on July 25, 1934. Records linked to his life place his death in Georgina, Ontario, and surviving references connect him with both England and Canada.
He is known for The Song of the Exile: A Canadian Epic; Visions and Miscellaneous Poems, published in Toronto in 1891. The title alone shows what made his writing distinctive: he worked on an ambitious scale, pairing a Canadian setting with themes of exile, memory, and identity.
Although detailed biographical information is scarce, Skeats remains accessible through public-domain editions of his work, including Project Gutenberg and archival copies of his 1891 volume. For readers interested in early Canadian poetry and writers whose lives crossed national borders, he is an intriguing figure.