Henry Alline is best known to historians as a dynamic evangelical preacher who precipitated a major religious revival of great social and political significance in late-eighteenth-century Nova Scotia. But during his brief preaching career, he also produced numerous "hymns and spiritual songs" (as he called them), together with a sizable body of theological prose works. While his theology has not withstood the test of time, his poetry has come to represent one of the few significant canons of verse from this period of Canadian literature. Although originally intended as an adjunct to his religious mission, his poetry is most meaningful today as a sensitive expression of the range and nature of his religious experience.

Alline was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on 14 January 1748 into an old New England family whose roots lay in Massachusetts; his parents were William and Rebecca Clark Alline. He received some formal schooling in...