WWI poetry

[Snowdrops]

These poets are all out to get me.

I opened my newly delivered English Heritage magazine this morning and there, right before my eyes, was a four page spread on war poets!

I'm not paranoid, but they do seem to be everywhere

[JaneEyre]

Could it have been Heinrich Böll?

It seems that you have hit the nail on the head, Stroller !!! Thank you so much!! His ideas and background seem in line with my (confused!) memories. Amongst other, Heinrich Böll wrote this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Heinrich- ... 0810112078" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here are some comments on this particular work:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collected-Stori ... nrich+Boll" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Heinrich- ... 0810112078" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I will try to get to the roots of my questioning. ‘Is it him or not him? that is the question!’ by trying to have a look at this book which is unfortunately only a reference book in Birmingham libraries. I am surprised that this book is not more widely read.

To this day, I have this memory of a short story when a soldier lights up a cigarette and get shot dead. The books Horribles Histories and their drawings got me in the wrong direction into WWI!! Should I have ever read Horrible Histories when my DS brought them from the library???

Thank you all for your help!

[JaneEyre]

I'm not paranoid, but they do seem to be everywhere

It seems it is a cultural heritage. I don't think we have this phenomenon in France though I might one day reread some works by Maurice Genevoix (but he was not a poet).
If I enter 'poemes de la premiere guerre mondiale' in the search engine google.fr, I can observe that there is a wikipedia article about Poètes anglais de la Première Guerre mondiale. So this is your beautiful British heritage and culture.

Now, I will be into searching more info about the English Heritage magazine .

Guys, you are just wonderful!!!! I like so much to read your posts and learn from you!!

Thank you eleven + forum for 'la bouffée d'oxygène* ' you give me each time I read you!!

*= a breath of fresh air.

[JaneEyre]

Thanks to the book The Oxford Book of War Poetry, I realise that Guillaume Apollinaire ( French poet of Polish ascent who is very well known for his numerous calligrams) has written Calligram, 15 May 1915

Here is a prezi presentation which presents a scan of the appropriate page of the sus-mentioned book + analysis
https://prezi.com/2ungihwrp0k0/calligram-15-may-1915/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JaneEyre]

I am still having my head plunged into books about WW1 and I am learning new things that I am sharing with you in case that could interest you.

This paragraph about the writers on the French side:
While poetry was an important genre, with prominent figures such as Guillaume Apollinaire who wrote several dozen war poems as well as hundreds of lesser known poems, for the most part patriotic verses, war literature was unquestionably dominated in France by prose and by war narratives more specifically, although a few works of fiction, like Under Fire by Henri Barbusse, winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1916, were immensely successful (at least 200,000 copies sold). Barbusse’s work was also undoubtedly the most popular book among troops during the war. Virtually all of the soldiers at the front were literate and many were avid readers. They did not read war literature exclusively, but also the classics, light reading and, above all, the written press.
source: http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.ne ... ure_france" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


What surprises me in this paragraph is that French soldiers are presented here as literate while what I have learned about soldiers in the English trenches is that they were mostly illiterate by contrast to their officers who were often well –educated (often coming from in private schools?). That surprises me a lot as I do not see why the French soldiers at a low rank would be more literate than their English counterparts... scratching my head... Maybe one day I will find the bottom of this...

Anyway, a little bit of a poem by a French war poet but I do not have his entire poem and cannot find it on the net:

How fortunate are this who enter the warm earth
killed in a just war;
How fortunate to die for a little land,
to find a noble death…
How fortunate are those who die for a hearthside
and the little treasure of home.
by Lieutenant Péquy

Lieutenant Péquy was killed on 5 September 1914. That certainly explains the tone of this poem, which maybe could be linked to British jingoists.

[doodles]

The best war museum we have ever been to was about 16 years ago in Beaumont-Hamel in Somme, Picardy. Both DH and I came out speechless at such a fantastic museum.

[JaneEyre]

In Beaumont-Hame, I can only find the Newfoundland Memorial. Is this the museum you are referring to?

http://www.visit-somme.com/somme_touris ... re_neuvien" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JaneEyre]

In Beaumont-Hame, I can only find the Newfoundland Memorial. Is this the museum you are referring to?

http://www.visit-somme.com/somme_touris ... re_neuvien" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[doodles]

No, it is an actual museum in the town centre just off the main square (where we had a most delicious lunch )

[ToadMum]

DS2's English class watched the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth this week as part of a lesson on WWI poetry.