Product Description

Rich selection of powerful, moving verse includes Brooke’s "The Soldier," Owen’s "Anthem for Doomed Youth," "In the Pink" by Sassoon, "In Flanders Fields" by Lieut. Col. McCrae, Thomas Hardy’s "In Time of the Breaking of Nations," many more by Kipling, de la Mare, Bridges, others. Publisher’s Note.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48258 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486295688
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
To The United States Of America by Robert Seymour Bridges
Trafalgar Square by Robert Seymour Bridges
1914: 1. Peace by Rupert Brooke
1914: 2. Safety by Rupert Brooke
1914: 3. The Dead by Rupert Brooke
1914: 4. The Dead by Rupert Brooke
1914: 5. The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
Rouen; 26 April - 25 May 1915 by May Wedderburn Cannan
How Sleep The Brave by Walter John De La Mare
Motley by Walter John De La Mare
The Assault Heroic by Robert Ranke Graves
The Bough Of Nonsense by Robert Ranke Graves
A Dead Boche by Robert Ranke Graves
Escape by Robert Ranke Graves
Familiar Letters To Siegfried Sassoon by Robert Ranke Graves
Goliath And David by Robert Ranke Graves
The Last Post by Robert Ranke Graves
The Next War by Robert Ranke Graves
Not Dead by Robert Ranke Graves
To Lucasta On Going To The Wars For The Fourth Time by Robert Ranke Graves
When I'm Killed by Robert Ranke Graves
The Silent One by Ivor Gurney
The Target by Ivor Gurney
To His Love by Ivor Gurney
To His Love by Ivor Gurney
'and There Was A Great Calm' by Thomas Hardy
An Appeal To America On Behalf Of The Belgian Destitute by Thomas Hardy
Before Marching, And After (in Memoriam F.w.g.) by Thomas Hardy
Channel Firing by Thomas Hardy
In Time Of 'the Breaking Of Nations' by Thomas Hardy
The Pity Of It by Thomas Hardy
Song Of The Soldiers by Thomas Hardy
Then And Now by Thomas Hardy
Epitaph On An Army Of Mercenaries by Alfred Edward Housman
The Choice. The American Spirit Speaks: by Rudyard Kipling
A Dead Statesman; Epitaph Of The War, 1914-18 by Rudyard Kipling
For All We Have And Are by Rudyard Kipling
The Mine-sweepers by Rudyard Kipling
In Flanders Fields by John Mccrae
Summer In England, 1914 by Alice Meynell
Anthem For Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
Apologia Pro Poemate Meo by Wilfred Owen
Arms And The Boy by Wilfred Owen
Disabled by Wilfred Owen
Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
Futility by Wilfred Owen
Greater Love by Wilfred Owen
Insensibility by Wilfred Owen
Mental Cases by Wilfred Owen
Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen
Break Of Day In The Trenches by Isaac Rosenberg
Dead Man's Dump by Isaac Rosenberg
Louse Hunting by Isaac Rosenberg
Returning, We Hear The Larks by Isaac Rosenberg
Blighters by Siegfried Sassoon
The General by Siegfried Sassoon
Haunted by Siegfried Sassoon
In The Pink by Siegfried Sassoon
The One-legged Man by Siegfried Sassoon
Picture-show by Siegfried Sassoon
Repression Of War Experience by Siegfried Sassoon
'they' by Siegfried Sassoon
Trench Duty by Siegfried Sassoon
The Troops by Siegfried Sassoon
A Working Party by Siegfried Sassoon
Route March by Charles Hamilton Sorley
Sonnet (3) by Charles Hamilton Sorley
To Germany by Charles Hamilton Sorley
Adlestrop by Philip Edward Thomas
As The Team's Head Brass by Philip Edward Thomas
The Owl by Philip Edward Thomas
A Private by Philip Edward Thomas
Tears by Philip Edward Thomas
This Is No Case Of Petty Right Or Wrong by Philip Edward Thomas
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Customer Reviews

Great Poems on War
I am not a poetry reader. Perhaps due to a lasting revulsion of forced readings in various literature classes during my tenure in public school, poetry used to be a real turn off. Until I picked up this slim book of poems of British World War I poets, that is. After a few pages of some of the excellent poetry in this book, the pulse quickened, the lights came on, and poetry suddenly seemed useful.

World War I (1914-1918) is pretty much a forgotten war today. Occasionally, you'll see a documentary containing grainy footage of men in strange helmets climbing out of trenches, usually moving at a freakishly quick pace due to the inadequacy of the early film process. WWI is further overshadowed by the mega-death body count of WWII. But WWI had its own unique horrors as the nations involved resorted to poison gas, mechanized warfare, and attrition strategies to kill off some 15 million people. The new methods of mechanized warfare failed to stifle the human element of war, and this is where these poems come into play. Some of the soldiers involved in the conflict were poets and writers, and they used these talents to document the battlefield horrors for the folks back home.

There are male and female writers here, and those who were there and those who stayed home. Those who served in the war do the best jobs with their poetry. Even May Wedderburn Cannan, a woman who served as a nurse at Rouen, writes better poetry about the war than such distinguished literary figures Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy (both of whom write from the safety of the home fires).

Keeping in line with the subject matter, most of the poems are grim and violent. Many of the poems focus on the incongruity of nature and violent acts of war. In one stanza, birds are chirping, the sun is shining, men are singing, and all seems right with the world. The next stanza is filled with sudden mutilations, violent death, and the shriek and scream of shells and bullets. Some of the poems deal with the anguish of watching someone die or killing another human being, as Wilfred Owen writes in "The Target" about a possible meeting in the afterlife with an enemy he's killed:

"Well, if they get me, first I'll find
That boy, and tell him all my mind,
And see who felt the bullet worst,
And ask his pardon, if I durst."

A few of the poets speak in favor of the war, seeing it as a call to glory or a defense against barbarism (see Rupert Brooks, John McCrae, and Rudyard Kipling). Others rail against the rulers and the senseless attrition warfare (Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Isaac Rosenberg best represent this viewpoint).

Regardless of ideological viewpoint or writing style, all of the poems have a beauty that comes from dealing with horrors beyond the comprehension of the individual. The overwhelming power of the poems should make the hardiest soul's eyes mist over with tears of frustration, agony, and profound sadness.

A good introduction at an inexpensive price....
Since the title is "World War One British Poets," I thought that the collection would be from poets who served in the military. Not only do the editors give you that, but they include male poets which did not serve (Kipling, Hardy, etc), but also two female poets (Alice Meynall whose son-in-law served and died, and May Wedderburn Cannan who served with the Red Cross in France). This provides a bit more background to the time period.

These poems aren't all about the horrors of war (like Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est"), but are also about the honor and pride felt by the British soldier (Brooke's "The Soldier"). Granted, some of these poems were not meant to be recruiting devices.

Although there are some great poems in this book, the biggest plus is the price. For less than two dollars (US), you are getting a fairly good cross-section of British poets writing in WW1.

A good, inexpensive primer to WW1 poetry
The two cultural features from the First World War that have survived the test of time are its popular music and its poetry. While the music is generally remembered as peppy and cheerful, much of the poetry serves as a dark and grim counterpart. As it is, some of the greatest 20th Century poets derived their inspiration from those tragic years.

This book is an excellent and inexpensive sampler of World War One-era poetry. Most of the major battlefield writers are represented, including Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves, Isaac Rosenberg, and John MacCrae. Other important writers who were inspired by the war are also included, such as Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy. Two women, Alice Meynell and May Cannan are also represented. The editor included a balanced number of patriotic works and anti-war poems.

Each writer has a mini-biography, followed by a sampling of his or her works. The quantity varies from a single poem, up to 11 works. The selections are representative of the authors, and many of the best-known titles are here, including Dulce et Decorum Est and In Flanders Fields.

This primer is hardly comprehensive nor is there much critical analysis of the poems or poets. But it is not meant to be. This book combines a well-rounded selection of poetry with an extremely low price to make it an attractive introduction to World War One-era poetry. This is not the best anthology out there, but it is a perfect introduction for those who are curious about First World War poems and don't want to pay a hefty price.