Virna Sheard Biography

Virna Sheard (1865-1943) is a Canadian poet and novelist.

Life

She was born Virna Stanton in Coburg, Ontario, and was educated in Coburg and Toronto. She married Dr. Charles Sheard of Toronto in 1885, and bore him four sons.

She began publishing stories and poems in 1898, and publishing several novels and a collection of poetry.

Writing

The Globe (Toronto): "A study of The Miracle and Other Poems shows at once that the author is not merely a Canadian poet; her outlook and her range know little of time or place; she belongs to the readers of poetry at large.... Though Mrs. Sheard's poems are by no means of uniform quality, there are enough of the best to ensure her a high place in Canadian poetry. Her tender sympathy with small or helpless things, her interpretation of the music of nature, her spiritual quality and her rendering of reverent Biblical subjects reflect the mind of an idealist, and are the inspired lines of one deeply moved. Often there is a touch of sadness or of the whimsical, but never a suggestion of triviality or flippancy. There is little of incident or action: most of the poems are pure lyrics. In many cases there is a strong appeal to the aesthetic."