A truly modern poet

Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau is considered to be Quebec’s first truly modern poet.

During his short lifetime he co-founded and contributed to the Canadian literary journal La Relève and published only one collection of poetry, Regards et jeux dans l’espace.

A later collection was published posthumously, as was his Journal.

He was honoured as an outstanding Canadian author when he was featured in a series of postage stamps in 2003 along with four other writers.

His poem Accompagnement meditates on joy being something that, even when it is near to us, can be difficult to claim as our own.

Listen to this reading of Accompagnement, performed in the grande finale of Les Voix de la Poésie in 2019 on YouTube. (A translation of this poem into English is available here).

Writing

What has brought you joy recently? Spend a few minutes thinking about where you have found a joyful moment in the last few days, no matter how small, how everyday it might seem. Explore what it is about that moment that has brought you happiness.

We’d love to see what you come up with, if you’d like to share.

Photo by Dan Calderwood on Unsplash