Sarah Binks

by Paul Hiebert

Paul Hiebert’s critical biography of the wholly mythical but irrepressible and irresistible Sarah Binks, “the Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan,” who gave her life to poetry and died a martyr to the muse, is a hilarious analysis of her career and influences, along with a memorable selection of the poet's tenderest, most inspiring writings.

This masterpiece of satire won the 1947 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Canada, Humor, Satire

184 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, intensely parodistic (and at least to and for me, often very much laugh out loud funny), Paul Hiebert's fictional biography of Sarah Binks (the emotionally and cloyingly described so-called sweet songstress of Saskatchewan) casts a wide and appreciatively all encompassing net, satirising the literary pretensions of not only authors but also of their critics and reviewers (as both the "works" of fictional poet Sarah Binks and the laudatory, generally almost artificially glowing "words" of the equally fictional critics envisioned and described, depicted by Hiebert are redolent of and massively awash with blatant and obvious misreadings, deliberately, groaningly bad translations, all surrounded by and packed with an in an in all ways atrocious but nevertheless delightfully imaginative and humorous dose of massive purple prose sentimentality).

Ironically though (and for me a bit frustratingly as well), while Paul Hiebert's brand of humour is generally (and in my humble opinion) both obvious and more than easily recognisable, a goodly number of especially American readers have through the years supposedly tended to believe that Sarah Binks was actually a real, a bona fide Saskatchewan poet and have as a result severely and with a dose of at times rather annoying anti-Canadian sentiment especially condemned and censored her Heinrich Heine "translations" (something that I personally have trouble even remotely understanding, as the latter are so deliberately and obviously horrid and artificially bad that they can really only be regarded and approached as parodies). Most highly recommended, but with the important caveat that because Sarah Binks is a parody and a satire, it would probably not be all that much enjoyed by readers who do not appreciate the latter as genres.

Now Sarah Binks is often used in Canadian high school classrooms (I had to read it in grade eight or nine), and while I certainly enjoyed the novel even then (when I was a teenager), it was also the unfortunate truth that I did not get all of the satirical allusions and parodies (mostly because I had not yet read enough classical literature to be familiar with at least some of Paul Hiebert's humour and the specific literary works that were being satirised). Being of German background, and even at the age of fourteen rather familiar with the poetry of Heinrich Heine (as much of the same has become standard German language song fare), I could of course immediately recognise the parodistic quality of the fictional Sarah Binks' renditions of the latter, but my English teacher actually had me explain to the class exactly why these were so funny, as while he was himself well aware (and naturally so) of their outrageousness and humouristic, parodistic qualities, he was also not well enough versed in Heine's poetry (in their original German manifestations) to understand and be able to explain exactly and specifically how and why they were so very satiric and uproariously hilariously funny and parodistic.

And with that salient fact in mind (and because I know I most certainly have enjoyed Sarah Binks considerably more for my more recent rereads and have definitely understood the presented, depicted humour and the satire, the parodies considerably better and more lastingly), I do believe that Sarah Binks is perhaps (and actually even likely) more enjoyable, more approachable and specifically much more understandable to and for those readers who have a bit of classical literature and poetry under their proverbial belts, who are familiar with the literature, the poetical forms and the like that are the subject that form the baseline of and for Paul Hiebert's satire and parody (and yes, Sarah Binks is still delightful and funny even if one is not all that familiar with classical literature and especially classical poetry, but being familiar with the latter, being able to recognise the originals that are being parodied with and by Hiebert's writing and the fictional Sarah Binks' verses does bring the reading experience to an entirely different and to and for me much more satisfying level).

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Binks has become something of a cult hero in Saskatchewan, and it's
easy to see why. Hiebert wrote this Canadian classic in the late '40s --
it's a unique and very cleverly written -- ahem -- "biography" of the
immensely talented poetess. But it's pure fiction, quite hilarious, and all
tongue in cheek. Unfortunately, the technique wore thin too quickly, and by
the midpoint my interest was already flagging. Despite that, I raise my
coffee cup to the inimitable Sarah Binks, a Canadian prairie classic
herself, the 'Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan' who found poetry in a trip
to Regina and thought manure-spreading was worth a rhyme or two, and was
eventually awarded with the coveted Wheat Pool Medal (the only time it was
ever bestowed for poetry), which honour places her forever "in the van of
that never-ending stream of poets which next to cereals is Saskatchewan's
greatest contribution to the big, open spaces" (p. 140). :-P

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hiebert's novel makes for an excellent companion to the other great Canadian novel of satire and parody, Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Both works poke fun at small town people, places and events that somehow become writ large in the minds of their narrators, and both point to a darker subtext in which Canadian culture, politics and social life are understood as subject to colonial mentalities which tend to suspend progress. Hiebert in particular is poking fun at the grandstanding tendencies of Canadian literary culture, making this novel a real treat for anyone taking courses in English Lit. The tone and language used might pass for the real thing in many a literary biography. Of course, there's plenty of absurdist humour throughout, and I wonder why other readers have tired of the satire halfway through - it's a short work, and one easily finished over the course of a summer afternoon. And regardless of audience, very, very funny.

[Ronald Kelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fictional literary biography of Sarah Binks, the fictional poet laureate of Saskatchewan. As reading the book, it becomes apparent that Ms. Binks was not the talented poet that many of her supporters claimed she was. She did, after all win honours and fame for the sheer quantity of work she produced (one book being a cubic foot of poetry). As it also becomes apparent that the writer of the biography is not a big fan of Ms. Binks either, in fact, the author, or perhaps Ms. Binks herself, could be accused of being mean-spirited. The book is a satire on hero-worship in small,introverted communities, prairie life and prairie literature. My only real problem with the book is that I am pretty sure I do not understand enough about poetry and lit criticism to fully understand and appreciate the humour.

[Ladie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little satire was referred to by Louise Penny in her third mystery novel, The Cruelest Month. I looked it up in wikipedia's and, amazed that it was a very real and popular Canadian phenomena published in 1947, started reading it in open library. As with many satires, even those of Mark Twain whose work I love, the humor wears thin at times. By the halfway point, I was barely chuckling inwardly and looking forward to the end. I'm glad I persevered since there were several more twitterpated moments. I rate it 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for sheer audacity and originality.

[Martha Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the first three of Louise Penny's mysteries of Louise Penny's mysteries of the Three Pines/Armand Gamache series I decided to read "Sarah Binks". The book was referred to several times in Louise Penny's books and it piqued my interest. "The Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan" is the (Sarah Binks) is the "mythical" biography of Sarah, a poetess. It is quite hilarious but by the middle it becomes tiresome an one tends to lose interest although I did finish it.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satirical account of Saskatchewan's greatest poetess, Miss Sarah Binks. Clever and witty. Pokes fun at literary criticism. Loved that her work is delineated by a two week trip to Regina (the Athens of the Prairies) and catagorized as being either from her Pre-Regina period (PR) or Post-Regina period (PR). Also loved that no one has ever fully read her magnum opus but they all still comment on it.

[Jason Friesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short satirical CanLit novel from 1947 about a fictional poet -had some good lines like calling Regina the “Athens of Saskatchewan” but after a while all the poems dedicated to trivial subjects started to wear a bit thin.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

And thus it ENDS in tragedy, and yet hope. We still have her great poetry! But as much as I'd like to understand why it was considered for Canada Reads, I can't accept its brilliance. It's sweet and fun, but sexist, racist, and offensive in many ways. Humour is hard and harsh and not always appropriate.
"Alas, the horse thermometer! The gods of Greek drama must have laughed ironically when that fateful instrument, that first tangible mark of Sarah's success, finally broke and proved to be the tragic means of her destruction. Mercury poisoning is a dreadful thing, but it is swift and sure, and as dramatically fitting as the asp and hemlock. Sarah had reached the height of her powers and she was still far from the inevitable senility which besets all poets upon receiving recognition. But from her pinnacle she could look ahead and faintly she could hear the echo of that far cry from her Darkest Africa:
This makes me scratch myself and ask,
What shall my powers fade?
It puts me severely to the task,
To face this fact undismayed.
After all, what was the beauty of sky and field and rain-drenched hill, of prairie swept by storm, of dazzling alkali flat, of hot fallow land in the sun of the summer afternoon, of the misty pastels of spreading time? All these things had been hers, and yet not hers. They had entered into her and become part of her and she had caught some of their intangible spirit and flung it back: 'Burbank, bobolink, and snearth' she had sung long ago in ecstasy of joy. But she knew they could never be completely hers, that they belonged to the prairie and the West, and that they were of Saskatchewan for all time.
'This makes me scratch myself and ask'; the Fates weave their web of circumstance around the great. It is no mere coincidence that the great epidemic of hives which swept Saskatchewan should have found Sarah with a horse thermometer which registered six degrees too high. It is no mere coincidence that she had become passionately fond of Scotch mints, and bearing down upon one of them at a moment when she was taking her own temperature cracked the thermometer and swallowed the mercury, a full tablespoon, with a plop. There was no catching it. Death loves a shining mark; the Fates had tied the final knot in the web—and in Sarah. For her there was no escape.
The facts of Sarah Binks' death from mercury poisoning are too well known and tragic to bear a detailed repetition, and the Author, blinded by tears and things, prefers not to discuss it. Dr. Taj Mahal, who has reconstructed her temperature chart from available data, and on the same chart has plotted the daily price of wheat during the epidemic, claims that if the thermometer had ever been properly calibrated against a standard horse and corrections applied accordingly, then the root of Sarah's temperature plus pi minus eight would give the same values he found in her production curve. Genius will out!
One more honour still remained for Sarah. St. Midget's conferred upon her the degree of Doctor of Laws, (in absentia). No provision had been made in the calendar of St. Midget's for a posthumous degree, and so far no L.L.D. had been conferred upon anyone actually dead. But the always earnest desire of St. Midget's to confer its honour upon those who had achieved success was able to surmount this fine distinction. Sarah would always live in the hearts of her countrymen.
Sarah Binks, W.P.M., L.L.D., The Sweet Songstress, the Poet's Poetess, the Woman! Who shall take her place? Some day, from the ever fertile soil of the West, another genius may spring. Some day, perhaps—some day! Until then—until then, let simple shaft of composition stone tell in that one word, forever eloquent, her place and her achievement—ALONE. "

Sarah’s untimely death made others sad, but Sarah had lived a very full life (too many tongues in too many cheeks, and racist inappropriate commentary).
"...But for Miss Drool to interpolate into what she calls, 'The Unfinished Symphony of Sarah's life' another of the frustration complexes with which readers of all her work are only too familiar, is hardly in accordance with what we know of Sarah. There was nothing frustrated about Sarah. She had had her struggles and her disappointments and her Darkest Africa. But she had won through to a horse thermometer and to the Wheat Pool Medal. Who can say she had not reached the fullness of life? Hers was the joy of sky and field and the driving rain against her cheek. She had health and vitality and the inner satisfaction of achievement. The community had claimed her—Saskatchewan called her its own."

Political posturing and propagandizing, in the vein of all good Canadian literary humour.
"...Never again was the Wheat Pool Medal to be bestowed for poetry. 'Once is enough,' declared the Hon. A.E. Windheaver in pinning the medal to Sarah's breast and tying his handkerchief around his thumb; 'Once, and only once has this honour been bestowed for poetry. This great organization, the Wheat Pool, together with my good friends of Willows and district and the electors as far south as Pelvis and as far north as Quagmire who have asked me to act as their representative on this occasion because they were not sure that they could get here over the roads which have been promised for the last four years although thousands of dollars of the taxpayer's money has been spent, join me today in bestowing this honour upon you, Miss Binks, or shall I call you Sarah Binks, because I want my friends to know me as I know them, join me today and we are proud of you and Saskatchewan is proud of you and if there were more like you and if the Ladies of this district would get together and organize for a good, clean government, I think I could get another honour for this district, and if the new Post Office which I spoke of before is ever built I think I could get some of your verses emblazoned on it in letters of imperishable bronze or carved in gleaming tablets of immortal stone, or at least concrete, if we ever get a government that has the interests of the people at heart and not just riding around on free passes and blowing the taxpayer's money.'
Letters of imperishable bronze! Tablets of immortal stone! Alas, the horse thermometer! Already in this moment of Sarah's greatest triumph Death had marked that shining mark for its own soon aim and the daisies were burgeoning restlessly, nay, impatiently in the sod. The ringing words of the Honourable A.E. Windheaver, himself long since called to his reward in the Canadian Senate, were not to find their splendid realization when the new Post Office was finally built. But Sarah Binks had written her name upon the soil of Saskatchewan, she had carved her words into the hearts of the people."

Many books address experiences with writing, and even our Author shares with us Sarah's experiences with Literary Difficulties. Even imagined literary icons think about their craft, and she is an inspiration (in word count) to all of us writers. :)
"...Her art, then, becomes 'a thin chimera,' and she dwells upon the sadder aspects of writing, even to the extent of wondering whether it might not get her down. With stern fortitude she accepts the responsibilities of her calling;
Let no say, when I have reached my ending,
The poet finds his balsam of relief
In only joy and laughter for life's mending,
And never throws a passing glance at grief:
Art may be nothing but a thin chimera,
To get us down but still 'twere better said:
'She wrote! Beneath this marble slab lies Sarah.
A Poetess—and prematurely dead.'
For he whose brow would wear the jaunty laurel
Must never let the lines of sorrow fade—
Literature is mostly doleful choral,
And grief the poet's steady stock in trade."

Here we have some philosophy from Sarah's poem “Horse” (which is controversial=did Sarah or Grandfather Thurnow write it). It is fun and especially relevant since we are watching Heartland.
"Horse I am but would be gladder
Could I see,
Evolutionary ladder's
Certainty;
Horse I am but can I know,
With the loss of final toe,
What to be?
Nought there is to tell me if
Pegasus or Hippogriff
Is destiny.
Oh well,
Horse's heaven,
Horse's hell,
Or super-horse,
Who can tell?
Who denotes?
What with knowledge and reflexes,
Self-expression and complexes,
Inhibitions and the sexes—
Give me oats."

Sarah becomes aware of her genius.
"...That she was already aware of her genius and at the same time conscious of her limitations she reveals in those beautiful lines, The Genius, a little gem of self-revelation, in which she pictures herself as already the complete artist:
THE GENIUS
I'm a genius, I'm a genius,
What more can I desire,
I toot upon my little flute,
And twang upon my lyre;
>
I dabble in oil paint,
In cinnebar and ochre,
All night I am dissipated,
And play poker.
>
In my little book, in my little book,
I write verses,
Sometimes they do't rhyme—
Curses!"

Sarah Binks' influences (tongue/cheek).
"ONE MAY TRACE many influences which affected Sarah's work, influences great and small which touched her here and there; Ole, Rover, William Greenglow, Henry Welkin, Grandfather Thurnow, strong, masculine influences which affected her outlook, touching her mind, and leaving their light and sometimes their shadow upon her poetry. But to Ole, cheerful hard-working Ole, big of heart and feet, must go the honour of having been the first to put the young Sarah upon the path of poesy. It is significant, even symbolical, that just as years ago on the morning after Dominion Day, Ole himself was traced for miles across the alkali flats that lay north of Willows, so to-day one traces his splendid footprints across the dazzling pages of Saskatchewan literature."

The first chapter of the biography begins, and shows the tongue-in-cheek humour that Will Ferguson must have enjoyed as he defended it for Canada Reads.
"A PLAIN SHAFT of composition stone with the simple inscription:
HERE LIES
SARAH BINKS
marks the last resting place of the Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan. Below the inscription at the base of the shaft in smaller letters is carved the motto; ALONE, and above it in larger type:
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE
CITIZENS OF THE MUNICIPALITY
OF NORTH WILLOWS
AND WAS UNVEILED ON JULY 1, 1931
BY
THE HON. AUGUSTUS E. WINDHEAVER
IN THE PRESENCE OF
THE REEVE AND COUNCIL
Here follows the name of the reeve and councillors together with the names of a number of outstanding statesmen of the day. Truly a fitting tribute to so great a woman. And it is no less a tribute to the Province of Saskatchewan that on the occasion of the unveiling of this monument the register of names at the Commercial House at Willows should be at the same time the roster of the greatest of Saskatchewan's sons. The Hon. A.E. Windheaver writes of that occasion in a letter to his committee:
It was hot as hell! There was no making it by road and we could have arranged for a hot box to hold the 4.46 for half an hour, but it was no use. We had to stick it until everybody was through. I think I was wise to leave out the tariff in my speech. This Sarah seems to be something of a tin god around here.
Something of a god! The tribute of a great statesman to a great artist and a great woman."

Thus it BEGINS in an imaginary Introduction to this imaginary and humourous literary biography.
"Sarah Binks, the Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan, no longer needs any introduction to her ever-growing list of admirers. In fact, it may be asked why another book should be added to the already voluminous and continually growing literature which deals with the work of this great Canadian. We already know about her life—we know about her tragic death. We know about her early struggles for recognition and her rise to fame. We know about the honours that were showered upon her, culminating finally in that highest award in the bestowal of the Saskatchewan people, the Wheat Pool Medal. But what is not known, or at least what is so often overlooked, is that quite apart from the Saskatchewan for which Sarah speaks, she was pre-eminently a poetess in her own right, that in a life so poor in incident and surrounded on all sides by the pastoral simplicity, if not actual severity, of the Municipality of Willows, she developed a character so rich and a personality so winsome and diverse. There is too, a profound personal philosophy which speaks to us quite apart from the sweep and beauty of the prairies with which she is associated. It is this theme which the Author has developed. It definitely strikes a new note."

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tongue-in-cheek mock bio of a small-town Saskatchewan poetess who dies tragically in her early 20s. Sarah's poetry -- of which we are treated to many, many examples -- is heartfelt, but uniquely awful, although the bio's narrator (and the many academics he quotes) are completely besotted by it.

After a bright start, though, this book gets tedious. The same comic beats are hit again and again, and it's just too thin a topic to sustain even the modest 180 pages in the edition I read.

The method of Sarah's death IS memorable, however. SPOILER: She often carries around a thermometer, and also gets addicted to chewing little mint candies. Near the very end of the book, she accidentally puts the thermometer in her mouth, and bites down on it as she'd been doing with the candies....and winds up dying of mercury poisoning.

Overall, a few laughs. Fans of Stephen Leacock or Garrison Keillor might enjoy some of the humour. But it's not at the level of either of those two at their best.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably one of the most unusual books I've read. Paul Hiebert wrote this fictional biography of a small town Saskatchewan farmer who wrote poetry in her spare time. There are many subtle, and not so subtle, digs at politicians of various levels as well as the realities of living an extremely rural life.
Confess I'd love to have seen the Stratford (Ontario) production.

[Bev Suderman-Gladwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Binks is a classic piece of satire. The poetry makes me laugh and the literary allusions are great. Yes, it's a little wordy but that's what it satirizing. I have such great memories of hearing the late great Peter Gzowski attempting to discuss this book on radio and breaking into giggles, repeatedly.

[dot_jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star = DNF. Could not pick up the flow of Hiebert’s writing and the font of the edition obtained from the local library was pretty hard on the aging eyes even with readers making reading difficult as well. I recognize the Canadian classic status of this satire, really wanted to enjoy it but couldn’t engage.

[Aaron Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very odd little book.

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty damn funny.

[CAW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an introduction to satire for me. Pretty funny

[Janie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this book.

[Heep · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sarah Binks" is a fine satire with some very sunny patches. It does tend to drag a bit and loses its momentum in the last 50 pages. The joke had been made and then the punchline was repeated several times. It deserves its place a piece of Canadiana, as it harkins back to a rural heritage that is becoming lost. Parody requires a subtle bending of fact - it works because the descriptions seem so close to the mark.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Sarah Binks has been mentioned in Louise Penny's Three Pines books, which I really enjoy, I probably would not have been moved to read the book, until a friend recommended it as well. I wish he hadn't. The humour in Sarah Binks is just not my type of humour. It was mildly amusing, but although it was a very short book, it was still too long for me.

[Ibis3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing and at the same time a bit tedious. I enjoyed it but would have enjoyed it more read in bits and pieces I think. At some point, I'll have to try and dig up old Canada Reads archives to hear what the defender had to say about it.

[Tina Siegel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious. I get that it's satirical, and some of it's really funny. But I got the point after the first ten pages. Beyond that, it annoyed me.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

That feeling you get when you realize that a sensibility and interest of yours are linked to your nationality which is odd because you never had any sense of your nationality before.

[Barrette Plett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts were very funny, though not much laugh-out-loud funny. I liked the wry, understated humour in all of it, but I often felt like either I didn't have enough background knowledge to catch the joke, or there was no joke, and I wasn't sure why.
Overall, it was a compelling and interesting book, which both satirized and celebrated small-town rural life and (mostly-satirized) literary criticism.
It's a nice CANADIAN book with lots of Saskatchewan.