The Magic House, and Other Poems

Book excerpt: This is a fascinating collection of the most celebrated Canadian poems by Duncan Campbell. It contains some excellent verses like the unique, dream-like sonnets of "In the House of Dreams." It also includes one of the most appreciated poems, "At the Cedars," a rough narrative about the death of a young man and his beloved during a log jam on the Ottawa River. It is melodramatic, but its style with irregular lines and short rhymes makes it the most experimental poem in the book. The book also contains other famous poems by the Canadian poet, such as The Magic House, A Memory of the 'Inferno,' and The Silence of Love. During his lifetime and several years after his death, Duncan Campbell Scott was best known as one of Canada's great Confederation Poets.