Ralph Gustafson
Ralph Gustafson was a notable Canadian poet and writer, born in 1909 in Lime Ridge, Quebec. He pursued his education in English and history at Bishop's University and later graduated from Keble College, Oxford University. His literary career began with the publication of his first poetry collection, *The Golden Chalice*, in 1935, which earned him the Prix David and was influenced by Romantic poets like John Keats. Gustafson's works evolved over time; his poetry began to reflect modernist influences and themes of disillusionment, particularly during and after World War II. He also contributed significantly to Canadian literature through anthologies, including *The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse*. His marriage to Betty Renninger inspired much of his later work, showcasing a blend of Canadian and European poetic voices. Throughout his career, he received several prestigious awards, including the Governor General's Award in 1974 for *Fire on Stone*. Gustafson continued to write poetry until his passing in 1995, leaving behind a legacy as one of Canada's leading literary figures.
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Ralph Gustafson
Poet
- Born: August 16, 1909
- Birthplace: Lime Ridge, Quebec, Canada
- Died: May 29, 1995
- Place of death: North Hatley, Quebec, Canada
Biography
Ralph Gustafson was born in 1909 in Lime Ridge, near Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, the son of photographer Carl Otto Gustafson. He studied English and history at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec, earning a B.A. with honors in 1929 and an M.A. in 1930. He then went to Keble College, Oxford University, where he graduated in 1933. He returned to Canada and taught for a year before going back to England, where he worked as tutor and freelance writer.
Gustafson’s first volume of poetry, The Golden Chalice, was published in 1935. It was heavily influenced by the English Romantic poets, especially John Keats, and won the Prix David. His second publication, Alfred the Great (1937), was a history written in blank verse, with the growing drift towards war as its subtext. During this time, he read widely among the modernist poets and the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and his own style shifted towards modernism. Gustafson also edited an anthology of Canadian poetry for members of the Canadian military, Anthology of Canadian Poetry (1942). The book sold impressively and Gustafson later produced other anthologies, including The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse, with the first edition published in 1958 and the fourth and final edition in 1984.
At the outbreak of World War II, Gustafson moved to New York, where he worked for the British Information Services during the war. He published another volume of his poetry, Flight into Darkness (1944), containing the poems he wrote from 1936 until 1943 and striking a note of disillusionment. After the war, he turned to writing short stories, and from 1946 through 1959 his stories appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Story, Canadian Forum, and other magazines. These stories later were collected in The Vivid Air: Collected Stories in 1980.
In 1959, Gustafson married Betty Renninger, an American nurse. She was the love of his life and inspired some of his best poems. Rivers Among Rocks (1960) is a collection of poems written between 1944 and 1959, with the latter ones reflecting his new love for Betty. The collection also shows the development of two poetic voices: a Canadian one and a European one. Over the coming decades, the distinctive Canadian voice produced lyric nature poetry and caused Gustfason to be considered one of Canada’s leading poets, marked by the receipt of the Borestone Mountain Poetry Award for 1961 for Rocky Mountain Poems (1960), and more significantly by the Governor General’s Award in 1974 for Fire on Stone (1974).
In 1963, he returned to his alma mater, Bishop’s University, where he taught and was a poet in residence until his retirement. He traveled widely in Europe, inspiring many of his “European voice” poems about the issues of the day, before returning in his later years to a more private lyric poetry. His latter verse was collected in two volumes, each entitled Collected Poems, published in 1987 and 1994. Gustafson wrote poetry until his death in 1995, at the age of eighty-six.