Poems

George Whalley published two books of poetry: Poems 1939-1944 (1946) and No Man An Island (1948). George Johnston edited a collection of Whalley's poems posthumously: The Collected Poems of George Whalley (1986). The three poems reprinted here represent Whalley's poetic styles in the 1940s and the 1960s. "Battle Pattern" was first drafted 4 June 1941, one week after Whalley participated in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck, and published in No Man an Island."Initial Assault - Sicily" (first drafted 9 July 1943) was published in part one and "Canadian Spring" (first drafted 30 April 1945) was published in part two of No Man an Island. "A Minor Poet Is Visited by the Muse" (first drafted 23 July 1964) was published in The Collected Poems of George Whalley.

These poems are reprinted from The Complete Poems of George Whalley (McGill-Queen's UP, 2016).