The Great War: Poets

Although Edward Marsh published the work of those today considered First World War Poets including Robert Ranke Graves and Siegfreid Sassoon, together in the 1917 anthology of Georgian Poetry, many moved in different literary circles and did not identify as part of a group. Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy were considered war poets although they had not served in the military themselves. In contrast, a majority of those considered First World War Poets, served in the trenches of the Western front and became casualties of the conflict. Characterised by their youth, many were from middle-class backgrounds and served as officers. They moved away from the patriotism of war poetry to record the gruesome reality of their experiences and write in protest about a lost generation. The work of the poet Isaac Rosenberg, who grew up amid poverty in London's East End, would only became widely known posthumously. Wilfred Owen and Sassoon met in the aftermath of war at Craiglockhart Hospital and their literary and personal friendship has become one of the most celebrated in history. Recently there has been an increased interest in the more overlooked work of female poets including Vera Britain and Charlotte Mew, increasing our understanding of the experiences of the First World War.