"Was Ever an Adventure Without its Cost?"

The Price of National Unity in E.J. Pratt's Towards the Last Spike

Abstract

E.J. Pratt’s Towards the Last Spike deserves critical reconsideration. Pratt’s epic poem documents the history of the Canadian railway, but not, as critics have generally conceded, in a blanket celebration of the nation’s achievements: rather, Pratt allows the darker moments of railway history into his retelling, challenging the unifying impulse of projects of national definition.