The French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc, fully loaded with wartime industrial explosives including TNT, picric acid, and guncotton, collided with another vessel in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The resulting fire ignited the cargo, causing the largest man-made accidental explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb. The blast obliterated the north end of Halifax, killed roughly 2,000 people, and sent a devastating tsunami crashing across the harbor.

The apocalyptic scale of the Halifax Explosion left an indelible mark on Canadian modern literature and poetry. Writers used the imagery of the suddenly shattered city and blinding flash to process the mechanical, detached horrors of the First World War industrial complex.