A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
History
A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
Marriage:” a drama in five acts (1860). This production is inferior to
“Saul,” not only because it does not possess the epic sublimity of the
sacred drama, but because in it there is too much straining after
effect, the characterization is defective, and the criticism of life
displayed is not of the highest quality. “Jephthah’s Daughter,” (1865):
a drama which follows closely the scriptural narrative, and, so far as
concerns artistic execution, is superior to “Saul.” The lines flow with
greater smoothness; there are fewer commonplace expressions, and the
author has gained a firmer mastery over the rhetorical aids of figures
of speech. His mind, however, shows no increase in strength, and we miss
the rugged grandeur and terrible delineations of his earliest drama.
“The Advocate:” a novel (1865). Besides these works, Heavysege produced
many shorter pieces, one of the finest of which, “The Dark Huntsman,”
was sent to the _Canadian Monthly_ just before his death. To Art
Heavysege, so his critics say, owed little. Even his most elaborate
productions are defaced by unmusical lines, prosaic phrases and
sentences, and faults of taste and judgment. But he owed much to Nature;
for he was endowed with real and fervid, though unequal and irregular,
genius. To the circumstances of his life, as much as to the character of
his mind, may be attributed the pathetic sadness that pervades his
works. Occasionally, it is true, there is a faint gleam of humour; but
it is grim humour, which never glows with geniality or concentrates into
wit. Irony and quaint sarcasm, too, display themselves in some of the
Spirit scenes in “Saul.” But for sublimity of conception and power of
evoking images of horror and dread, Heavysege was unsurpassed except by
the masters of our literature. He possessed also, an intimate knowledge
of the workings of the human heart; his delineations of character were
powerful and distinct; and his pictures of impassioned emotion are
wonderful in their epic grandeur. Every page of his dramas betrays an
ardent study of the Bible, Milton, and Shakespeare, both in the
reproduction of images and thoughts, and in the prevailing accent of his
style. But he had an originality of his own; for many of his sentences
are remarkable for their genuine power, and keen and concentrated
energy. Here and there, too, we meet with exquisite pieces of
description, and some of the lyrics in “Saul” are full of rich fancy and
musical cadence. Without early culture, and amid the toilsome and
uncongenial labours of his daily life, Heavysege has established his
right to a foremost place in the Canadian Temple of Fame: what might he
not have done for himself and his adopted country, had he been favoured
by circumstances as he was by Nature! His death took place at Montreal,
in August, 1876.
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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