Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau is remembered as the most important Quebecois poet of the first half of the twentieth century. Often considered to be Quebec's first modern poet, his influence only became apparent after the publication of his Poésies complètes in 1949. Since that time the number of studies on his life and work has multiplied considerably. Portions of the Poésies complètes were translated into English in 1962, and the entire volume was translated, as Complete Poems of Saint-Denys Garneau, in 1975. Perhaps only Emile Nelligan has been the object of so much critical attention.

Born into a family with aristocratic roots, he was given the names Hector in honor of his god-father and de Saint-Denys in honor of his maternal uncle, a descendant of Nicolas Juchereau de Saint-Denys, one of the heroes of New France. Through his father he was descended from...