Watchful Dreams and Sweet Unrest: An Essay on the Vision of Archibald Lampman

In the visionary poems that must be considered central to Archibald Lampman's canon, there is present the subtle and alert consciousness, the clarity of vision, the unclouded focus on things as they are, that are the requisites for a rational, realistic, and comprehensive understanding of humankind's relation to the world, to the "All," and to Time. By examining Lampman's verse, one can demonstrate that, for Lampman, true insight meant seeing and understanding the world, with all its tensions and opposition, comprehensively. For him, the only acceptable reason for leaving the world of men was to return to it regenerated, with a reformed and reforming humanitarian vision