The War Poems by Siegfried Sassoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4.5★
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon. Did his parents think being bullied was character forming??? What a choice of Christian names.
On ANZAC Day I didn’t get as far through Sassoon’s poems as I hoped. A holiday, Airbnb, tax returns have all eaten into my reading time. But I appreciated what I read.
Suicide in the TrenchesSassoon’s most popular poem on the Poem Hunter website. Shows the depth of Sassoon’s disenchantment. 5★
Aftermath You want The Great War romanticized? Don’t read Sassoon!
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz–
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench–
5★
A Letter Home On first acquaintance, Sassoon couldn’t stand
Robert Graves. Later they became close friends. With this poem (indeed a most powerful form of letter!) Sassoon was mourning his dead lover, homesick, missing Graves friendship. Gentle, wistful rather than angry. Didn’t get the last part. Please someone – enlighten me! 4★
Blighters. Short, angry, raw 4★
The Glory of Women Satirical, on the lack of understanding shown by those who would never fight. 5★
So I didn’t get far but was amazed by what I read.
Carol - She's So Novel! 