# Poetry — Character guide

> Key figures in Poetry by James McIntyre.

- [Bill Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/bill_brown.md): Brown belongs to the loose fraternity of figures McIntyre summons to embody risk — the swimmer, the steamer passenger, the townsman caught in public drama. His boldness is his defining trait and his quiet liability, sinc
- [Poor Tom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/poor_tom.md): Tom is less a fixed person than a recurring note of pathos — the suitor vowing to wed, the unidentified young man raised from Toronto Bay, the mourned absence that gives other verses their weight. His tension is between 
- [Robert Burns](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/robert_burns.md): Burns never speaks in these poems, yet his presence shapes them — invoked alongside Poe, Saxe, and Whitman in McIntyre's roll call of admired bards. He represents the ideal McIntyre keeps reaching for: verse that is warm
- [Thomas Campbell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/thomas_campbell.md): He appears in the collection as a name to be celebrated rather than a figure to be dramatized — one of the poets McIntyre tips his hat to while building his own Canadian canon. The tension is generational: Campbell belon
- [John McCrae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/john_mccrae.md): A figure mentioned in the context of poetry.
- [Father Ranney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/father_ranney.md): A clergyman appearing in the narrative.
- [Mary Crosby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/mary_crosby.md): A female character mentioned in the poems.
- [John Roe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/john_roe.md): Roe is the collection's most companionable presence, a first-person teller who moves easily between anecdote and ballad, from the peasant's cottage to the frozen carcass of a bear. His charm lies in his unflappable curio
- [Doctor Gardiner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/doctor_gardiner.md): A doctor appearing in the narrative.
- [Tom Norton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/tom_norton.md): Norton belongs to the same emotional territory as the drowned swimmer Webb and the victims of the Victoria — men whose bravery is met by forces indifferent to it. His aliases tell the story: 'brave Tom' in one breath, 'p
- [Shakespeare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/shakespeare.md): The famous playwright, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Big Bear](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/big_bear.md): A bear character in a narrative poem.
- [Sir Walter Scott](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/sir_walter_scott.md): In McIntyre's poetic landscape, Scott stands as the ancestral standard against which local Canadian and Scottish versifiers are quietly measured. He never speaks in these pages; instead he haunts them as an ideal, the fi
- [Mrs. Moody](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/mrs_moody.md): A female character mentioned in the poems.
- [John Grant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/john_grant.md): A character described as large and unfortunate.
- [Little Dora](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/little_dora.md): A young female character in the poems.
- [Jackal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/jackal.md): An animal character in a narrative.
- [Robert Fleming Gourley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/robert_fleming_gourley.md): A person honored in a dedicated poem.
- [Lady Ann](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/lady_ann.md): A noblewoman appearing in a narrative poem.
- [Tennyson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/tennyson.md): The Victorian poet, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Dog Johnston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/dog_johnston.md): A dog character appearing in the narrative.
- [Bill Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/bill_jones.md): A character described as brave.
- [Jack Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/jack_smith.md): A character, possibly unfortunate or small.
- [Alexander Murray McIntyre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/alexander_murray_mcintyre.md): A bard or poet mentioned in the work.
- [Gordon Cumming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/gordon_cumming.md): A famous lion hunter referenced in the poems.
- [Byron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/byron.md): The Romantic poet, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Oliver Goldsmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/oliver_goldsmith.md): The Irish writer, referenced in the poems.
- [Edgar Allan Poe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/edgar_allan_poe.md): The American poet, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Daniel Hebner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/daniel_hebner.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [James McIntyre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/james_mcintyre.md): A poet or character mentioned in the work.
- [James Hogg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/james_hogg.md): The Scottish poet, referenced in the poems.
- [Henry Karn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/henry_karn.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Mrs. Staunton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/mrs_staunton.md): A character in a poem about Horace Greeley.
- [Milton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/milton.md): The English poet, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Bulwer-Lytton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/bulwer_lytton.md): The novelist and playwright, referenced in the poems.
- [T. D. McKee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/t_d_mckee.md): A politician honored in a poem.
- [The Colonel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/the_colonel.md): A military officer appearing in the narrative.
- [Jane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/jane.md): A female character mentioned in the poems.
- [Longfellow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/longfellow.md): The American poet, referenced as a literary figure.
- [Tom McKay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/tom_mckay.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Walt Whitman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/walt_whitman.md): The American poet, referenced in the poems.
- [Prince Charlie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/prince_charlie.md): The Jacobite prince, referenced in the poems.
- [King Bomba](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/king_bomba.md): A king character in a narrative poem.
- [Mr. McGee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/mister_mcgee.md): A character mentioned in the poems.
- [Will Carleton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/will_carleton.md): An American poet, referenced in the poems.
- [Young Benwell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/young_benwell.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Wambo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/wambo.md): A beautiful young female character.
- [King Hiram](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/king_hiram.md): A biblical king referenced in the poems.
- [Queen Victoria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/queen_victoria.md): The British monarch, referenced in the poems.
- [Colonel Wonham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/colonel_wonham.md): A military officer honored in a poem.
- [Hugh Millar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/hugh_millar.md): A Scottish geologist and writer, referenced.
- [Uncle Sam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/uncle_sam.md): A personification of the United States.
- [Chief Big Wolfe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/chief_big_wolfe.md): A Native American chief character.
- [Frank Leach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/frank_leach.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Daniel Pheisan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/daniel_pheisan.md): A deceased person honored in a poem.
- [Wee Flora](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/wee_flora.md): A charming young female character.
- [Washington Irving](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/washington_irving.md): The American author, referenced in the poems.
- [King Duncan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/king_duncan.md): A character from Macbeth, referenced in the poems.
- [Harold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/harold.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Tom Moore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/tom_moore.md): The Irish poet, referenced in the poems.
- [John Dryden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/john_dryden.md): The English poet, referenced in the poems.
- [Ettrick Shepherd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/ettrick_shepherd.md): The poet James Hogg, referenced by his nickname.
- [Burnaby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/burnaby.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Old Carlock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/old_carlock.md): An elderly character appearing in the narrative.
- [Samuel Coleridge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/samuel_coleridge.md): The English poet, referenced in the poems.
- [Bryan Borohm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/bryan_borohm.md): A character or poet referenced in the poems.
- [St. Andrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/st_andrew.md): The patron saint of Scotland, referenced.
- [Mr. W. D. Grant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/mr_w_d_grant.md): A character appearing in the narrative.
- [Dear Dick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters/dear_dick.md): A character addressed in a poem.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_12_se/characters