Ballad of the Canal

The "Ballad of the Canal" is a poem written by Phoebe Cary, an American poet who lived in the 19th century. She was the younger sister of another well-known poet, Alice Cary. The poem is a parody of another work called "Ballad of the Tempest" by James T. Field. In the "Ballad of the Canal," Cary cleverly reimagines the original story and puts her own twist on it. Although the details of the poem are not provided, LibriVox volunteers have recorded 11 versions of it, making it accessible to a wider audience. Phoebe Cary and her sister Alice gained recognition for their poetry, and they even published a joint collection of their works in 1849. Later, each sister went on to publish her own individual volumes. Even after their deaths in 1871, their unpublished poems were compiled into anthologies, allowing readers to discover more of their literary contributions. This poem is