Any WWI Poetry?

[Manfred]

I would like to read one or two poem for a Poetry Day in March. I would like them to be on World War I aviation, or on the war in general.

Thanks

[snipe]

Originally Posted by Manfred

I would like to read one or two poem for a Poetry Day in March. I would like them to be on World War I aviation, or on the war in general.

Thanks

Some of the most powerful poetry of the Great War was written by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen

[Mr_Flibble]

I agree with Snipe.

I find this Owen's best

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.


I had forgotten about it until I saw "Behind the Lines" a few weeks ago.

I find this next one Sassoon's best:

The Rear Guard

GROPING along the tunnel, step by step,
He winked his prying torch with patching glare
From side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air.

Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes too vague to know,
A mirror smashed, the mattress from a bed; 5
And he, exploring fifty feet below
The rosy gloom of battle overhead.

Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw someone lie
Humped at his feet, half-hidden by a rug,
And stooped to give the sleeper's arm a tug. 10
"I'm looking for headquarters." No reply.
"God blast your neck!" (For days he'd had no sleep.)
"Get up and guide me through this stinking place."
Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering heap,
And flashed his beam across the livid face 15
Terribly glaring up, whose eyes yet wore
Agony dying hard ten days before;
And fists of fingers clutched a blackening wound.
Alone he staggered on until he found
Dawn's ghost that filtered down a shafted stair 20
To the dazed, muttering creatures underground
Who hear the boom of shells in muffled sound.
At last, with sweat of horror in his hair,
He climbed through darkness to the twilight air,
Unloading hell behind him step by step. 25

[TomVrille]

You might also check out the collected works of Robert Service. Although best known for his poems of the Yukon, such as the "epic" tale of Dan McGrew, Service served with the Ambulance Corps in WW1, and wrote a small collection of poems entitled something like Diary of a Red Cross Man. Some of these verses are quite moving.

[TomVrille]

My mistake...

The collection of Service's war-time verses is called Rhymes of a Red Cross Man. The collection can be viewed at:

http://www.artdamage.com/service.htm

Happy Reading !!

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Manfred

I would like to read one or two poem for a Poetry Day in March. I would like them to be on World War I aviation, or on the war in general.

Thanks

This site might give you some promising leads:

http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/index.htm

VBR
Kirby

[Prop Nut]

Here is a good one by WB Yeats

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above
those that I fight I do not hate
those that I guard I do not love
My country is Kiltartan Cross
my countrymen Kiltartan's poor
No likely end could bring them loss
or leave them happier than before
No law, nor duty bade me fight
no public men, nor cheering crowds
a lonely impulse of delight
drove to this tumult in the clouds
I balanced all, brought all to mind
the years to come seemed waste of breath
a waste of breath the years behind
in balance with this life, this death.

[ONEALM]

There's another excellent compilation called "Minds at War" with has alot of Owens, Sasson, Yates, and bunch of others. Good context to flesh things out as well. I cannot recall the author, but it's a fairly recent publication.

Try this link to amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0952896907/203-4760260-5680736

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0952896907/203-4760260-5680736

I see there's a similar volume called "Out in the Dark", but I've not see nor read it.

I did enjoy "Minds..." very much.