Beyond the Hills of Dream

Book excerpt: Beyond the Hills of Dream is an artistic collection of Canadian poems by Wilfred Campbell, who was a Canadian poet influenced to a great extent by the Romantic movement. Hence, the work contains plenty of beautifully written poems about Nature, such as 'Morning' on the Shore,' 'In the Spring Fields,' 'An August Reverie,' 'Morning,' 'Glory of the Dying Day,' 'Dusk.' The collection also contains poems of Empire, such as 'Victoria,' 'O good gray Queen,' 'England,' 'Tis the name that the world repeats,' and 'The World-Mother', regarding Scotland, the poet's ancestral home. There are also some fantastic poems about biblical figures, Jacob and Lazarus. One verse that stands out is the powerful and lengthy poem called 'The Vengeance of Saki' concerning a woman wronged and replaced. This delightful collection of poetry contains an elevated style and diction and is full of themes of all sorts, making it one of the best sellers of its time.