bibliography
This page is an attempt to create a bibliography of the anthologies of Niagara poetry, and criticism and reviews of various poems and poets about Niagara.
Anthologies of Niagara Poetry
Dow, Charles Mason. Anthology and Bibliography of Niagara Falls. Albany: State of New York, 1921.
Johnson, F.H. Guide to Niagara Falls and Its Scenery. Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864.
• Baxley, Dr. A Sabbath at Niagara
Johnson, Richard L. (ed). Niagara: Its History, Incidents and Poetry. Washington, Walter Neale General Book Publisher, 1898
• Johnson, R. L. Apostrophe to Niagara
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (comp.) Poems of Places: America: Middle States. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., c1879
McCabe, Kevin, ed. The Poetry of Old Niagara. St. Catharines, Ont. : Blarney Stone Books, 1999.
Porteus, Andrew C. Niagara Mornings. Niagara Falls, Ont. Grey Borders Press, 2016
Click to see the Table of Contents and the introduction to Niagara Mornings. Includes links to the Niagara Mornings photographs.
Pritchard, Myron T. , comp. Poetry of Niagara. Boston: Lothrop Publishing Co., 1901.
Severance, Frank H. Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo: The Matthews-Northrup Co., 1899
• McGuire, Michael. Thoughts on Niagara
• Palmer, Frank B. Apostrophe to Niagara
Table rock album and sketches of the Falls and scenery adjacent. Buffalo : Jewett, Thomas, 1850
• Click to see the table of contents
Casual References to Niagara Falls in Poetry
Casual references to Niagara Falls occur often in poetry. While these do not justify adding the complete poem to this site, it is interesting to see where they appear and by whom. As more are found, they will be added to this page.
Click here to visit this page
Criticism of Niagara Literature
Bentley, D.M.R. Monumental Tensions: the Commemoration of British Political and Military Heroes in Canada from his Mnemographia Canadensis, volume 1: Muse and Recall. 1994 (archived on the WayBack Machine)
Carr, Jamie M. Niagaras of Ink: Famous Writers at the Falls. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2020.
Dow, Charles Mason. Anthology and Bibliography of Niagara Falls. Albany: State of New York, 1921. Many of the entries in Dow’s Anthology contain short summaries of the poems, as well as sometimes pithy comments about the poem itself. Click here for his short summary of Niagara poetry in general
McGreevy, Patrick M. Imagining Niagara: The Meaning and Making of Niagara. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994
McKinsey, Elizabeth R. Niagara Falls: Icon of the American Sublime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Porteus, Andrew. The Development of the Poetry Walking Tour of Niagara Falls Using Mobile App Technology. St. Catharines: Brock University Library Digital Repository, 2020 (MA Major Research Project) [includes sections on Niagara poetry] Available digitally by clicking here
Revie, Linda Lee. The wilds of Niagara: Constructions of the Falls in fine arts, literary and scientific narratives, from discovery through the twentieth century. Boston: Boston College, 1998. [Ph.D. thesis]
Severance, Frank H. Niagara — Its Poets. Paper read at the March 10, 1893 meeting of the Rochester Historical Society.
Severance, Frank H. Notes on the Literature of the War of 1812. Paper read at the annual meeting of the Ontario Historical Society, 1912.
Severance, Frank H. Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo: The Matthews-Northrup Co., 1899 (Chapter entitled Niagara and the Poets)
Available digitally by clicking here
Shields, Rob. Places on the Margin: Alternative Geographies of Modernity. London: Routledge, 1991. (Section entitled Niagara Falls: Honeymoon Capital of the World)
Criticism of Individual Poets
Alexander, James Lynne
A Critical Edition of “Wonders of the West, or, a Day At the Falls of Niagara, in 1825 : a poem” ed. by Amanda St. Jean. London, Ont. : Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Western Ontario, 1995 [M.A. thesis]
Crapsey, Adelaide
Heredia, José María
- Did Bryant Translate Heredia’s Ode to Niagara? E. C. Hills, Modern Language Notes
Vol. 34, No. 8 (Dec., 1919), pp. 503-505
Kirby, William
- The Poetical Review: a Brief Notice of Canadian Poets and Poetry by A.C. Stewart
Palmer, Frank. Apostrophe to Niagara
- Click here to read Frank Severance’s discussion on Palmer’s Apostrophe to Niagara (To go directly to the page choose the html version and after it comes up add #Page_317 to the end of the url)
Pratt, Parley P.
- Click here to view the article On the Poetics of Self-Knowledge: Poetry in Parley Pratt’s Autobiography by Joseph M. Spencer from the Journal of Mormon History vol. 37 Issue 1 Winter 2011
Origins, Pronunciation, and Variants of the Word “Niagara”
A page discussing theories of the origins and pronunciation of the workd “NIagara.” Variants of the word “Niagara” also occur on occasion. This page lists some of them.
Articles & Interviews
Fika With Vicky interview, November 2, 2019
Langley, Alison. “Celebrating National Poetry Month With a Niagara Falls Flavour” Niagara Falls Review, April 5, 2021
Langley, Alison. “The History of Niagara Falls Through Poetry” Niagara Falls Review, December 29, 2019
Longo, Joe. Niagara Falls Review Library Column, December 11, 2004
Porteus, Andrew. “The Genesis of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project.” Write, vol.47, no. 2. Summer 2019
Porteus, Andrew. “Honeymoon Couplets” Niagara Current magazine, vol. 1, no. 1, August 2003
Presentations
Brock University Text, Context, Intertext in Narrative: Constituting and Locating the Self in Culture Colloquium, November 2019. Narrativeness and Self in the Poetry of Niagara Falls.
Canadian Screens: 32nd Annual Two Days of Canada Conference. November 2019. From Page to Small Screen: The Niagara Falls Poetry Project
Lundy’s Lane Historical Society. April 2023. The Niagara Way of Death: Depictions of Death and Near-Death in the Poetry of Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library. January 2020. A Non-chronological and Incomplete History of Niagara Falls in Poetry
Niagara University, October 2019. The Niagara Falls Poetry Project.
OALT/ABO Conference. May 2019. A Non-chronological and Incomplete History of Niagara Falls in Poetry in Motion.
Popular Culture Association National Conference (PCA 2022) April 2022 The Niagara Falls Poetry Project : Recovery, Preservation & Interpretation of Poetry of (a Particular) Place
Popular Culture Association National Conference (PCA 2023), April 2023. The Niagara Way of Death: Depictions of Death and Near-Death in the Poetry of Niagara Falls. See blog note Popular Cuture Association National Conference, 2023
Resources for Poems About Places
A few links to sites of resources of poetry about places