It came as a surprise to me when I learned last year that Canada had just named its very first official poet laureate, for I had always thought that Bliss Carmen had been awarded that honor in the early 1920s. It turns out that, as I discovered when I recently looked him up on the web, Carman was actually Canada's unofficial poet laureate, having been recognized by the Canadian Authors' Association on October 29, 1921 as that nation's "major poet." It makes no difference really, for Carman will always be remembered by me and his other fans as Canada's most beloved bard.

It should be noted that Carman was also extremely popular in the United States, especially in the late 19th century when he teamed up with the American poet Richard Hovey to publish the three Vagabondia books, for which both poets are best known today. Most often described as fresh, whimsical, masculine, irresponsible, gypsy like, these little volumes were about the joys of freedom, the outdoors, and, of course, youth.

To provide a rough idea of just how popular these books were, my old beat up copy of the first book of the series, Songs from Vagabondia, is a ninth edition, published in 1907; the first edition having been published in 1894. Hem and Haw appeared in the second book of the series, More Songs from Vagabondia. I hope you enjoy it.