Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology (Oxford World's Classics)

The First World War produced an extraordinary flowering of poetic talent, poets whose words commemorate the conflict more personally and as enduringly as monuments in stone. Lines such as'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?'and'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old'have come to express the feelings of a nation about the horrors and aftermath of war. This new anthology provides a definitive record of the achievements of the Great War poets. As well as offering generous selections from the celebrated soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke, and Ivor Gurney, it also incorporates less well-known writing by civilian and women poets. Music hall and trench songs provide a further lyrical perspective on the War. A general introduction charts the history of the war poets'reception and challenges prevailing myths about the war poets'progress from idealism to bitterness. The work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that sets the poems in their historical context. Although the War has now passed out of living memory, its haunting of our language and culture has not been exorcised. Its poetry survives because it continues to speak to and about us. The First World War produced an extraordinary flowering of poetic talent. Its poets mark the conflict in ways that are both intensely personal and as enduring as any monument. Their lines have come to express the feelings of a nation about the horrors and consequences of war. This new anthology provides a definitive record of the achievements of the Great War poets and offers a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak. Focusing on the poets themselves, the book is organized by writer, not theme or chronology. It offers generous selections from the celebrated soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke, whilst also incorporating less well-known writing by civilian and women poets. It also includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney. A general introduction charts the history of the war poets' reception and challenges prevailing myths about the war poets' progress from idealism to bitterness. The work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that sets the poems in their historical context. Although the War has now passed out of living memory, its haunting of our language and culture has not been exorcised. Its poetry survives because it continues to speak to and about us. "The First World War produced an extraordinary flowering of poetic talent. Its poets mark the conflict in ways that are both intensely personal and as enduring as any monument. Their lines have come to express the feelings of a nation about the horrors and consequences of war. This new anthology provides a definitive record of the achievements of the Great War poets and offers a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak. Focusing on the poets themselves, the book is organized by writer, not theme or chronology. It offers generous selections from the celebrated soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke, whilst also incorporating less well-known writing by civilian and women poets. It also includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney. A general introduction charts the history of the war poets' reception and challenges prevailing myths about the war poets' progress from idealism to bitterness. The work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that sets the poems in their historical context." -- Publisher's description. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) A. E. Housman ( (1859-1936) May Sinclair (1863-1939) W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Lauence Binyon (1869-1943) Charlotte Mew (1869-1928) Robert Service (1874-1958) Edward Thomas (1878-1917) Wilfrid Gibson (1878-1962) Mary Borden (1886-1968) Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) Julian Grenfell (1888-1915) T. P. Cameron Wilson (1888-1918) Patrick Shaw Stewart (1888-1917) Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918) Arthur Graeme West (1891-1917) Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) Margaret Postgate Cole (1893-1980) May Wedderburn Cannan (1893-1973) Charles Sorley (1895-1915) Robert Graves (1895-1985) David Jones (1895-1974) Edmund Blunden (1896-1974) Edgell Rickword (1898-1982) Music-hall and trench songs. A new anthology that combines generous selections from well-known soldier poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon with work by civilian and women writers. A general introduction places Great War poetry in its contexts and the work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that explains the circumstances of composition.