Earle Birney has been described as a thoroughly Canadian poet. He participates in a tradition of great Canadian poets in that he writes about his homeland, but he also presents the values of the country as a whole in his writing. He embodies the frontier attitude of progressivism, curiosity, and indignation in response to perceived injustice. This leads to a very covert version of national poetry. While he is not composing new verses for Canada's national anthem, Birney is depicting the unconscious minds of his countrymen and even the will of the land itself.
Much of Birney's poetry is set in the wilderness, or at least in nature, outdoors. He writes about people who have rejected society, preferring to make mistakes in private or to avoid the often frustrating nature of participation in society. His protagonists demonstrate acute abilities to discern political agendas. They express the desire to live free of obligation and bias because they're keenly aware of power structures. In the wild, these characters one by one recognize that even they came into this environment hoping to change it to accommodate their desires, but they can't. Nature is the one force that will not yield. Instead Birney depicts men learning to cooperate with nature, to bend and sway in rhythm with the wind. His protagonists seem concerned with harmony, with the reduction of their exertion of will.
Coupled with the above abnegation of society, Birney's poems feature overtones of loneliness. Not only does he place his characters in isolating positions but he makes them choose isolation. He allows them to decide for themselves that they must leave society, either because of their own personal mistakes or society's. The particular brand of loneliness which accompanies such a decision is especially despairing. If one is alone by choice, then one feels the full weight of rejection. Left with only one's own company, one must rely upon their own self-talk for support. Often, as Birney illustrates, this process is excruciating but necessary.
