Day and Night

Day and Night, by Dorothy Livesay (Ryerson, 1944). This collection of poetry reflects the author's commitment to socialist concerns in the 1930s and her enduring faith in human potential. The narrative poems "The Outrider" and "Day and Night" document the oppression of farm and industrial labour, and envision a new social order. In "Lorca," a revolutionary hero transcends death. The inclusion of personal poems in the collection suggests the interdependence of public and private experience. Livesay's poetic innovation - her mixed verse forms, her sound effects and taut, economic language - and her ability to integrate form and meaning give the collection its striking power. Day and Night won the Governor General's Award in 1944.