First World War Poets

Past display archive
28 February - 1 October 2017

Room 22

Free

To mark the centenary of the First World War, this display presents a selection of men and women who wrote poetry both from the trenches and on the home front during the conflict. The term 'war poet' is most commonly associated with the soldier-poets who fought on the Western Front and many of whom died in combat. Their work is both poetry and testimony, providing a voice for those who fought in the trenches. This display includes portraits of soldier-poets alongside portraits of non-combatants whose experience of the war was often very different. From poems written in the trenches to elegies for the dead, the work of these poets commemorates the Great War.

 

Installation image

© National Portrait Gallery, London