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Poems from the First World War: Published in Association with Imperial War Museums by Gaby Morgan
This moving and powerful collection of poems has been written by soldiers, nurses, mothers, sweethearts, and family and friends who experienced WWI from different standpoints. It records the early excitement and patriotism, the bravery, friendship, and loyalty of the soldiers, and the heartbreak, disillusionment, and regret as the war went on to damage a generation. It includes poems from Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Vera Brittain, Eleanor Farjeon, Edward Thomas, Laurence Binyon, John McCrae, Siegfried Sassoon, and many more. This collection was published in association with The Imperial War Museum, which was founded in 1917 to collect and display material relating to World War I while it was still being fought. Today, the IWM is unique in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from World War I to the present. They seek to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and wartime experience.
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First published September 12, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 10, 2017
Aftermath
Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same--and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
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--
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?'
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack--
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads--those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.
--Siegfried Sassoon --
I was lucky enough to have been born a long time after the two World Wars but although most of the stuff I know about them comes from history books, poetry and documentaries, I've always felt this urge to commemorate what has happened and it has since become a matter dear to my heart. I want to never forget.
This book features 114 poems about World War I. However, what makes this collection so special is the fact that each and every author of these 114 poems has experienced WWI first-hand! Soldiers, nurses, family members, spouses and friends of soldiers are giving their personal insight into what it was like - either behind the lines or in the trenches themselves.
So to answer the question from the picture above: we should remember in honour of every single fallen soldier or civilian, for their sacrifice, for the pain it caused their loved ones and friends, and for ourselves because something as horrible as those two wars should never happen again (though it probably will even though warfare has changed in the meantime).
May 9, 2020
'They shall grow not old, as we are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them' (p22 Laurence Binyon)
Gaby Morgan has compiled this collection of emotive poetry from the First World War. The subject matter - dealt with the eloquence of these poems - can only fail to move the hard of heart. We are treated to the works of the young and talented poets(many whom would not return from the war) from Wilfred Owen, Vera Brittain, Leslie Coulson or Siegfried Sassoon (and so many others). Rightly so, these poets constitute the majority of the collection but dotted amongst these - in a complimentary fashion - are previously established and older poets like W. B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy and G.K. Chesterton.
Though mixed chronologically, many poems are dated. There's an optimism and patriotism (Peace by Rupert Brook as one example) particularly in some of these earlier poems. Such odes to glory and purpose do well to shed light on the conscience of many patriots blind to the futility and needlessness of this war.
What I've enjoyed about this collection is the varying perspectives: pro-war patriotism; anti-war; mothers, sisters and wives, or the gender politics you find in poems like War Girls and Many Sisters to Many Brothers p125-128.
Poetry with a particular historical context such as this tends to be more straight-talking and instrumental. Style doesn't vary greatly for this reason. It puts less import on aesthetics. This said, there are many intricate metaphors and ambiguities contained within. I would cite Wilfred Owen as a proponent of the more challenging and thought-provoking poems.
It made me think about mortality and the madness of war. I found many poems powerful. Personally, I believe there's a purple patch within this collection between pages 70 and 120 and I will return to some of these poems from time to time.
4 out of 5
'If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.'
(p105 Wilfred Owen)
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them' (p22 Laurence Binyon)
Gaby Morgan has compiled this collection of emotive poetry from the First World War. The subject matter - dealt with the eloquence of these poems - can only fail to move the hard of heart. We are treated to the works of the young and talented poets(many whom would not return from the war) from Wilfred Owen, Vera Brittain, Leslie Coulson or Siegfried Sassoon (and so many others). Rightly so, these poets constitute the majority of the collection but dotted amongst these - in a complimentary fashion - are previously established and older poets like W. B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy and G.K. Chesterton.
Though mixed chronologically, many poems are dated. There's an optimism and patriotism (Peace by Rupert Brook as one example) particularly in some of these earlier poems. Such odes to glory and purpose do well to shed light on the conscience of many patriots blind to the futility and needlessness of this war.
What I've enjoyed about this collection is the varying perspectives: pro-war patriotism; anti-war; mothers, sisters and wives, or the gender politics you find in poems like War Girls and Many Sisters to Many Brothers p125-128.
Poetry with a particular historical context such as this tends to be more straight-talking and instrumental. Style doesn't vary greatly for this reason. It puts less import on aesthetics. This said, there are many intricate metaphors and ambiguities contained within. I would cite Wilfred Owen as a proponent of the more challenging and thought-provoking poems.
It made me think about mortality and the madness of war. I found many poems powerful. Personally, I believe there's a purple patch within this collection between pages 70 and 120 and I will return to some of these poems from time to time.
4 out of 5
'If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.'
(p105 Wilfred Owen)
June 15, 2022
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— John McCrae
A couple of years ago I bumped into this book on Amazon and its price was quite ridiculous (less than €1.50, I think?).. It took me less than three seconds to add it to the cart even tho I knew I would've waited the right moment to read it.
That time had come and I'm glad I've waited to get in the right mood for it! Of course, I would've never thought that in the meantime I would've witnessed another war happening... People will never learn from our past mistakes, apparently.
This is a collection of 114 poems written by the main protagonists of WWI: the soldiers, the nurses, their families, friends and lovers.
Studying history on the books is a totally different matter compared to reading about people's feelings and direct testimony on how it really felt to be on the front line, losing your friends and your own life.
I'm not gonna lie, reading these poems made me feel really sad. It's concerning how the price of a life can still be considered to be so low, and how we still let so many people die over trivial things, only because of some powerful men who want to show how strong they are. It really looks like some things will never change, after all.
June 25, 2023
It's fine. Just feels like a random collection of WW1 poetry that has no rhyme or reason to it. It would have been nice to have an excerpt from Morgan (the person who complied these poems) to explain why the poems were chosen.
It's roughly organised by date which does display how attitudes towards the war changed over time. I, however, would have preferred the poems to have been organised by theme. It also would have been nice to have a bit of information on each poet included in the book, just to give the poems a bit more context.
The poems themselves were good. I especially like:
From Men Who March Away - Thomas Hardy, September 1914
The Dead - Rupert Brooke, 1914
Perhaps - Vera Brittain, February 1916
To Tony (Aged 3) - Marjorie Wilson
In Memoriam - E.A. Mackintosh
In Flanders Fields - John McCrae
The Lament of the Demobilised - Vera Brittain
It's roughly organised by date which does display how attitudes towards the war changed over time. I, however, would have preferred the poems to have been organised by theme. It also would have been nice to have a bit of information on each poet included in the book, just to give the poems a bit more context.
The poems themselves were good. I especially like:
From Men Who March Away - Thomas Hardy, September 1914
The Dead - Rupert Brooke, 1914
Perhaps - Vera Brittain, February 1916
To Tony (Aged 3) - Marjorie Wilson
In Memoriam - E.A. Mackintosh
In Flanders Fields - John McCrae
The Lament of the Demobilised - Vera Brittain
January 4, 2017
There are some beautiful poems here. There are some rhymed poems here. There are some beautiful, rhymed poems here.
Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon do some special work among these.
Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon do some special work among these.
April 18, 2021
“Loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.”
Indeed a moving collection of poems written by people who experienced the war first hand.
Indeed a moving collection of poems written by people who experienced the war first hand.
April 14, 2025
Enjoyed isn’t the right adjective for these poems - many of them are too raw - but I’m glad I’ve read this book. It’s a very balanced set of poems, including ones written by families & sweethearts left behind. And I’m going to have to explore the poetry of Charles Sorley, who I’d not heard of before.
August 30, 2025
My personal favourite poems from this were "The Cherry Trees" by Edward Thomas and "In Memoriam" by E. A. Mackintosh.
Many of the poems are a devastating insight into the mental and emotional state of different people during WW1.
A very insightful and solem read.
Many of the poems are a devastating insight into the mental and emotional state of different people during WW1.
A very insightful and solem read.
February 22, 2021
Read this as part of my English class.
July 16, 2022
Love a good anthology.
April 18, 2024
Deeply moving
November 1, 2017
Como en toda compilación, algunos me han gustado más que otros. Pero, madre mía, hay muchos poemas que son como patada al estómago y muestran la crudeza de la guerra de una manera que realmente te toca.
August 30, 2019
For more reviews, check out my blog at http://mlsparrow.wix.com/mlsparrow
I'll admit, I'm really fussy when it comes to poetry and this book had some that I really loved and some that I didn't at all. I have to say I was very impressed with the scope of emotions and viewpoints represented in this little collection. It shows the pride of serving your country, the fear and sadness of losing loved ones, the pain of war, disillusionment and, what I found especially interesting, the class divides.
Some of the poets I'd heard of before, such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rudyard Kipling and Vera Brittain, other I'd never heard of before but really enjoyed. My favourite poems were 'Many Sisters to Many Brothers', 'In Memoriam' and 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'.
Definitely a good collection to dip in and out of; so many of these poems are heart breaking in what they portray and the feelings they show.
I'll admit, I'm really fussy when it comes to poetry and this book had some that I really loved and some that I didn't at all. I have to say I was very impressed with the scope of emotions and viewpoints represented in this little collection. It shows the pride of serving your country, the fear and sadness of losing loved ones, the pain of war, disillusionment and, what I found especially interesting, the class divides.
Some of the poets I'd heard of before, such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rudyard Kipling and Vera Brittain, other I'd never heard of before but really enjoyed. My favourite poems were 'Many Sisters to Many Brothers', 'In Memoriam' and 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'.
Definitely a good collection to dip in and out of; so many of these poems are heart breaking in what they portray and the feelings they show.
July 10, 2014
A friend got me this book for my birthday and I expected it to be just another collection of war poetry written by soldiers, but surprisingly, it turned out to be much more than that! Of course there's plenty of poems about life in the trenches and about the destruction and desolation of war, but I liked the different perspectives that are reflected in this collection. There are poems by soldiers, but also by fathers, mothers and lovers.
I'd say it's a pretty basic collection that offers a wide range of points of view on the disasters of war, so it's useful for people like me who have not read much poetry about it, but is interested in it and does not know very well where to start.
I'd say it's a pretty basic collection that offers a wide range of points of view on the disasters of war, so it's useful for people like me who have not read much poetry about it, but is interested in it and does not know very well where to start.
November 3, 2018
I've been dipping into this book all day and have already bookmarked about twenty poems to read with my class next week! This includes all of the classic and best-known poems, as well as others that are not so well-known. I was interested to see poems from women on life at home during the war. One thing I would have liked added to this collection was a short biography on each author, as that would help to bring these experiences to life even more.
January 2, 2016
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
December 18, 2016
Beautiful, and so sad ,
March 22, 2020
Absolutely brilliant and heart felt. X
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews