Canadian Poet Laureate associated with the Confederation Poets and known for such works as Songs from Vagabondia and Low Tide on Grand Pre. He was the 1928 recipient of the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal.
He studied at the University of New Brunswick, Oxford University, the University of Edinburgh, and Harvard University.
He was a supporter of Unitrinianism (not to be confused with Unitarianism), which was a philosophy that dealt with aligning mind, body and spirit and overcoming the physical and spiritual imbalances caused by an urbanized world.
He met Mary Perry King in 1896; she became his literary patron and occasional lover.
He was related to Ralph Waldo Emerson on his mother's side.
