The Not Unsimilar Face: Unity in A. M. Klein’s “The Provinces” kalista pouget College

Throughout his 1945 poem “The Provinces,” A. M. Klein uses various literary techniques to emphasize and strengthen the overall message of the brotherhood among the Canadian provinces. The very form of the poem, especially the inconsistent but significant length of the beginning stanzas, helps draw the reader’s attention towards the important elements of the poem. Personification assists in the formation of family-related imagery, as Klein often refers to the provinces as siblings. The use of tropes, for example metonymy to hint to readers which province being described is which without explicitly stating their names, poetically invokes thoughts of solidarity. In “The Provinces,” the themes of identity and unity are asserted with great force; the use of literary devices and techniques inspire the predominantly Canadian audience with a patriotic message.

Form proves to be useful in stressing the ideas contained within the poem. From the opening stanza, a chronology is present in the description of the nine provinces outlined. Seemingly in the order of most to least important, “the two older ones,” presumably Ontario and Quebec, are mentioned first and described in great detail in a large stanza (Klein 1). Next, “the three...