Francis Joseph Sherman

Francis Joseph Sherman (February 3, 1871 – June 15, 1926) was a Canadian poet.

He published a number of books of poetry during the last years of the nineteenth century, including Matins and In Memorabilia Mortis (a collection of sonnets in memory of William Morris).

Life

Sherman was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the son of Alice Maxwell Myshrall and Louis Walsh Sherman. who had also taught Bliss Carman and Charles G.D. Roberts. For a short time, Carman was one of Sherman's teachers.

Sherman entered the University of New Brunswick in 1886, but had to drop out after a year for financial reasons. Sherman was writing poetry at that time, and with Roberts's encouragement published his first book the next year.

Sherman was engaged to May Whelpey of Fredericton when they were both in their twenties. However, the marriage was called off after she was stricken with infantile paralysis. Rudyard Kipling reportedly also praised the book.

The poetry of this first volume "is unmistakably derived from Rossetti and the early Morris". Many of the stories recall Morris poems: "a narrator speaks from beyond life, a fantastic setting is located beyond space and time, a ballad and a dramatic monologue are written in the Froissartian tone, interior and exterior landscapes reflect the speakers' disturbed psychological states, precise details of colour predominate, italics are used for effect, atmospheres are Medieval, and, in general, the subjects are love, fate, and death."

In 1945, Sherman's name was added to the Canadian Government's list of Persons of National Historic Significance.

He is commemorated by a sculpture erected on the University of New Brunswick campus in 1947 that portrays him with fellow poets Bliss Carman and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts.

Publications

Matins. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1896. In Memorabilia Mortis. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1896. A Prelude. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1897. Two Songs at Parting. by John Bodkin and Francis Sherman. Fredericton: n.p., 1899. The Deserted City. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1899. A Canadian Calendar: XII Lyrics. Havana: n.p., 1900. "An Acadian Easter," The Atlantic Monthly, April 1900. The complete poems of Francis Sherman. Lorne Pierce ed., Sir Charles G.D. Roberts fwd. Toronto: Ryerson P, 1935.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy of New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia.