Louise Morey Bowman
Louise Morey Bowman was a notable poet born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1882, who gained recognition in both Canada and the United States for her modernist approach to poetry. Raised in an upper-middle-class family, she received a comprehensive education that included time spent in Massachusetts and a tour of Europe. Bowman's literary career began with the publication of her first poetry collection, *Moonlight and Common Day* in 1922, followed by *Dream Tapestries* in 1924, which earned her the prestigious Prix David in Quebec. Her work is characterized by her use of free verse, a style that breaks away from traditional poetic forms and is often associated with modernist movements.
Despite her success in the U.S. and praise from prominent figures like imagist poet Amy Lowell, Bowman faced criticism from Canadian literary circles for her feminist themes and unconventional imagery. Her poetry often explored the complexities of women's experiences in a patriarchal society, the passage of time, and connections to nature. Bowman's later works include *Characters in Cadence*, published in 1938, and while she produced short stories as well, only a few, like "Bitter Berry," have remained well-known. She passed away in 1944 and was laid to rest in her hometown of Sherbrooke.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Louise Morey Bowman
Poet
- Born: January 17, 1882
- Birthplace: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Died: September 28, 1944
- Place of death: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Biography
As a poet, Louise Morey Bowman became recognized as one of the most promising writers both in her native Canada and in America. Born into an upper-middle-class family in Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1882, Bowman at first had tutors. She then attended school in Massachusetts, followed by a tour of Europe to complete her education. Upon her return to Canada, Bowman married and moved to Toronto.
After her first book of poems, Moonlight and Common Day (1922), appeared, she completed the volume Dream Tapestries (1924), awarded Quebec’s prestigious Prix David. In an era of literary modernism, she became an early Canadian practitioner. Bowman attempted to judge literature upon its merits, without recourse to its past or to the necessities of homage to established literary forms or their proponents. In fact, Bowman’s modernist peers found Canadian literature wanting—a literary tradition had yet to be born.
Bowman excelled in free verse, an unrhymed, narrative style of poetry in which emotions, descriptions, or even storytelling pour out in loosely constructed metrical lines, if metrical at all. Free verse represented the most attacked literary attribute of the moderns, which critics associated with new ideas and expression. They also associated the loose, random poetical form with the decadency ascribed to such writers and thinkers as D. H. Lawrence, Sigmund Freud, and Ezra Pound. Critics attacked Bowman not for her morals but for her undisciplined style of poetical expression.
Despite the Quebec literary award, Bowman seemed more appreciated in America; her collection Dream Tapestries contained a poem titled “Oranges,” a lengthy poem set in New England, which received honorable mention in the 1922 South Carolina Blindman Prize competition. While praised by Americans, in particular the imagist poet Amy Lowell, Bowman was harshly criticized by Canadian critics who took issue with the feminism, nontraditional societal attitudes and strong, arresting images found in Bowman’s poetry.
In 1926, Bowman and her husband moved to Montreal. Although she wrote well-received short stories as well as poetry, few have withstood the test of time with her reading public—“Bitter Berry” (1929) is the exception. Bowman’s poetry concerns women in a patriarchal society, the destructive and positive aspects of the passage of time, love between men and women, as well as love for nature, perhaps influenced by the British Romantic poets, with whom she felt a kinship. Her third volume of poetry, Characters in Cadence, appeared in 1938. Bowman died in 1944 and was buried in Sherbrooke.