Customer Reviews

World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others (Unabridged)

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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.

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.

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.

While this is fairly standard as to what you are going to get for World War One poets (Rupert Brookes, Siegfried Sassoon, etc.) it is some of the most powerful imagery in Western poetry. Sassoon's material is particularly compelling. I will second the other reviewer's complaint that there is a lack of female poets in this collection but I won't take off a star because of it because 1. War is mainly fought by male soldiers and it's the fighters that interest me 2. This series is intended to be introductory and can't get everyone in.

However, both those arguments could be extremely weak in retrospect, but this is a review of what is in this book and not what has been left out. This is a great book for anyone who thinks that poetry is only about trees, flowers and suicidal depression. Poems about killer clouds, syphilis, mass death and disease are a great relief from the standard junk written by high schoolers.

A good - and very cheap - collection of British World War I poets. The introductions could have been more detailed - but I guess for one dollar you can't expect too much. What disturbs me more is that just one woman has been included. The editor disregarded a lot of interesting poems which deal with female war experiences.

As the First World War becomes more of an afterthought, its legacy may actually rest in the countless poems it inspired. During one of mankind's worst armed conflicts, Britain saw a poetic flowering with some of the most delicate verses ever written. And these poems are not frozen in time, either; they still have major social relevance today.

Those who are curious about these writers will find satisfaction in another of Dover Thrift Editions' low-cost books. 'World War One British Poets' is a 71-page survey of 16 writers both male and female, with apt editing by Candace Ward. While not an in-depth study of the poets, it gives a strong introduction to some of Britain's greatest literary minds.

'World War One British Poets' is nicely arranged and brings the poems into historical context. There is a short introduction to the war's beginnings and how these poems were a natural response to the chaos that ensued. Each poet is dealt with attentively and a short bio prefaces the selection of his or her work. To Candace Ward's credit, this anthology gives attention to names both major and minor. Besides Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon - considered the titans of First World War poetry - there are easily-forgotten personalities like Charles Hamilton Sorley, Robert Bridges, and Walter de la Mare.

The anthology includes two female poets: Alice Meynell, known as a social activist during the Victorian era, and May Wedderburn Cannan, who was educated at Oxford and served as a Red Cross volunteer in France. Disappointingly, the book omits such poets as Edmund Blunden and Richard Aldington, but there is only so much ground that can be trod in 70 pages. The book will certainly motivate readers into looking for more works by the poets who filled this era.

Located in Mineola, New York, Dover Publications has mastered the 'thrift' edition by printing books at the lowest costs possible while keeping prices super-cheap. 'British World War One Poets' currently retails at $2.50; there are anthologies better detailed than this one, but for the low price, you can't find better value.

This is a good anthology, although somewhat limited in scope. As a research tool, it is barely adequate. As a review of the most famous poetry, Ward gives a good range of poetry, and the reader will get a flavor of WWI poetry.

I'm not a big fan of poetry. When this book was assigned for one of my classes, I was afraid it was going to be a huge chore to get through it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by many of the poems in this book...there were several that I took a strong liking to, including the classic "In Flander's Field," among others. I found many of the poems quite touching.

And an added bonus, they're all pretty short.