Luis Riel, the compelling leader of the Metis, hanged by Sir John A. MacDonald's government in 1885, sits at the core of the Canadian national imagination. Among partisans, he is either a poltroon or prophet, politically adept or an inept fool. He was a visionary, and a very interesting poet, full of rancor and tenderness, self-pity and dignity. This is the first selection of his poetry to be published in this country in both French and English.