War Poetry??

Chris · 16 Oct 2005, 23:13

Does anyone here know anything about war poetry??

I a finishing my Xmas present huntng and am looking for mum's present. Me adn the BigSister are trying to get something different for her this year so i figured since she did A-Level War poetry and really liked it i would get something related to that.

Does anyone have any ideas please?

BTW> She doesn;t like biographies so the new Siegfried Sassoon book is out.

**Diane** · 17 Oct 2005, 01:21

I'd recommend the works of the other great 1st World War poet Wilfred Owen. His poetry really captures the enormous horror of the war he and his generation endured in the trenches in France. He was killed in action just one week before the war ended. He was 25 years old.

There are also biographies currently in print about him, but since your mum doesn't like biographies they won't be much help .... but you should easily find his poetry books.

Hope that's some help Chris.

Diane

Dulce Et Decorum Est (Pro patria mori) - It Is Sweet & Glorious (To Die For Your Country)

by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

L96 · 17 Oct 2005, 11:21

Wilfred Owen is awesome.
Can't beat that recommendation!

Bren · 17 Oct 2005, 11:28

indeed...i too would recomend work of Wilfred owen....i have a " the collected poems of Wilfred Owen".....which is good.has both his war poetry and other earlier works.
or "selected poems of Siegfried sassoon"

or try for an anthology containing well known war poetry....with poems like
Break of day in the trenches - Isaac Rosenburg, An irish airman forsees his death - W.B Yeats, Memorial tablet Siegfried Sassoon etc.....

Ageing Bat · 17 Oct 2005, 13:43

Jon Stallworthy has written a very good biography on Wilfred Owen. Worth considering I would think.

16 Oct 2005, 23:13	#1
Chris Mega Loafer Join Date: 14.04.2002 Location: Somewhere in the real world. Posts: 7,527	War Poetry?? Does anyone here know anything about war poetry?? I a finishing my Xmas present huntng and am looking for mum's present. Me adn the BigSister are trying to get something different for her this year so i figured since she did A-Level War poetry and really liked it i would get something related to that. Does anyone have any ideas please? BTW> She doesn;t like biographies so the new Siegfried Sassoon book is out.

17 Oct 2005, 01:21	#2
Diane Super Moderator Join Date: 04.02.2003 Location: Guernsey, Channel Islands Posts: 3,462	I'd recommend the works of the other great 1st World War poet Wilfred Owen. His poetry really captures the enormous horror of the war he and his generation endured in the trenches in France. He was killed in action just one week before the war ended. He was 25 years old. There are also biographies currently in print about him, but since your mum doesn't like biographies they won't be much help .... but you should easily find his poetry books. Hope that's some help Chris. Diane Dulce Et Decorum Est (Pro patria mori) - It Is Sweet & Glorious (To Die For Your Country) by Wilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of disappointed shells that dropped behind. GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

17 Oct 2005, 11:21	#3
L96 Inaugural goldfish winner Join Date: 04.07.2005 Location: In a handbasket. Believe me, for someone my height, it's hell... Posts: 2,373	Wilfred Owen is awesome. Can't beat that recommendation!

17 Oct 2005, 11:28	#4
Bren The Bat Join Date: 23.03.2003 Location: Roosting on a Silver-Black Phantom Bike. Posts: 10,017	indeed...i too would recomend work of Wilfred owen....i have a " the collected poems of Wilfred Owen".....which is good.has both his war poetry and other earlier works. or "selected poems of Siegfried sassoon" or try for an anthology containing well known war poetry....with poems like Break of day in the trenches - Isaac Rosenburg, An irish airman forsees his death - W.B Yeats, Memorial tablet Siegfried Sassoon etc.....

17 Oct 2005, 13:43	#5
Ageing Bat Young at heart. Slightly older in other places. Join Date: 20.11.2003 Location: Here! Posts: 1,311	Jon Stallworthy has written a very good biography on Wilfred Owen. Worth considering I would think.