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Fairies and Fusiliers
Fairies and Fusiliers collects poems written during World War I, when Graves served in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers on the Western Front, alongside Siegfried Sassoon, another one of WWI's most celebrated poets. Unlike Graves, who survived the war, Sassoon was killed in combat. Robert Graves always considered himself a poet first, but unable to support his family through poetry alone, he wrote novels, works of criticism and nonfiction, and taught at Oxford in the 1960s, becoming a lecturer at age 66.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
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About the author
Robert Graves
639 books2,058 followersRobert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. Born in Wimbledon, he received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G.H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, "who had felt as I did".
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 29, 2011
We tend to neglect World War I here in the United States. We do. Go to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. You have the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial (which despite what several critics say, is absolutely stunning). There is, in fact, a Great War Memorial on the Mall. It's set off a bit, and was obivously done before WW II. A few years ago, it was surronded by dense shrubs and trees, and it needed to be cleaned. I stumbled across it by accident. The park service has finally started to rehab it, and hopefully more people will see it.
We tend to neglect WW I here because we weren't in it very long. We didn't lose as much as the other countries. England, France, Germany - lost, really lost. This neglect is misguided because WW I did change things, in particular in politics, art, literature, and life. It set the stage for WW II among other wars.
Graves was one of those young men who fought in WW I. He, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen were at the same war time hospital. (They hung out with HG Wells). People know Graves for his other work, in particular, I, Claudius because of the mini-series with John Hurt dressing as a girl and prancing around. But Graves wrote poetry, and this collection contains War poetry as well as life affirming poetry (some of which is based on fairy tales).
Those who like Owen will see in Graves a very familiar style, in paticular with Graves' poem about David and Golitah which echoes Owen's "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young". Another excellent poem is to John Skelton, and this poem should be read aloud. My favorite, though, is "St Edward and the Old Man". Love that one.
We tend to neglect WW I here because we weren't in it very long. We didn't lose as much as the other countries. England, France, Germany - lost, really lost. This neglect is misguided because WW I did change things, in particular in politics, art, literature, and life. It set the stage for WW II among other wars.
Graves was one of those young men who fought in WW I. He, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen were at the same war time hospital. (They hung out with HG Wells). People know Graves for his other work, in particular, I, Claudius because of the mini-series with John Hurt dressing as a girl and prancing around. But Graves wrote poetry, and this collection contains War poetry as well as life affirming poetry (some of which is based on fairy tales).
Those who like Owen will see in Graves a very familiar style, in paticular with Graves' poem about David and Golitah which echoes Owen's "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young". Another excellent poem is to John Skelton, and this poem should be read aloud. My favorite, though, is "St Edward and the Old Man". Love that one.
January 19, 2022
This is a fascinating collection. Graves swings back and forth from whimsical fantasy to the horrors of war, while sometimes combining the two. I particularly liked 'Dead Cow Farm' which also incorporates images from Norse myth and has an ending that makes your heart drop and blood run cold.
This collection seems to be hardly known nowadays, but it's essential reading for anyone interested in poetry from the First World War, or anyone interested in the influences of said war on 20th century fantasy literature.
(One note: the summary here on goodreads says that Siegfried Sassoon (Graves' friend and fellow poet) died in the war while Graves survived. In fact, they both survived and lived for several decades after the war.)
This collection seems to be hardly known nowadays, but it's essential reading for anyone interested in poetry from the First World War, or anyone interested in the influences of said war on 20th century fantasy literature.
(One note: the summary here on goodreads says that Siegfried Sassoon (Graves' friend and fellow poet) died in the war while Graves survived. In fact, they both survived and lived for several decades after the war.)
January 6, 2025
Robert Graves' *Fairies and Fusiliers* is a striking mix of war’s harsh realities and the whimsical, otherworldly charm suggested by the title. Written during and after his experiences in the trenches of World War I, the collection captures the contrasts of a world torn between beauty and destruction, light and darkness, and hope and despair. The poems are personal and vivid, blending the brutality of war with imaginative flights into myth and fantasy.
One of the central themes is the collision between innocence and violence. Poems like "Goliath and David" reframe Biblical and mythic narratives in a wartime context, drawing parallels between ancient battles and the grim realities of modern warfare. At the same time, there’s an undercurrent of disillusionment—Graves doesn’t romanticize war. Instead, he presents it as a harsh and dehumanizing experience, often laced with irony. "A Dead Boche" captures the stark reality of a soldier’s perspective, stripped of sentimentality.
Another recurring theme is the pull between the past and the present. Graves weaves myth and folklore into his work, as seen in "The Cruel Moon," creating a sense of timelessness. This is juxtaposed with the very immediate and visceral imagery of war. The title itself suggests this duality: “Fairies” invokes whimsy and escape, while “Fusiliers” grounds the collection in the military life and its hardships. This contrast highlights how imagination becomes a refuge from trauma.
Structurally, the poems vary, but many lean toward traditional forms, with clear rhyme schemes and rhythm. This structured approach adds a sense of control to themes that are often chaotic and overwhelming. The formality of the structure doesn’t dull the impact; instead, it makes the content feel sharper, as if the rules of the poem are holding back a flood of raw emotion.
The tone shifts throughout the collection, from playful to bitter, wistful to grim. In "Cherry-Time," there’s a lightheartedness that feels almost like a reprieve, while in "The Last Post," the sorrow is heavy and unrelenting. The poems often carry a layer of irony, reflecting Graves’ awareness of the absurdities and contradictions of war. Even his lighter works often contain an edge, a subtle reminder of the darker backdrop against which they’re set.
What ties these poems together is Graves’ ability to balance opposites. He brings the horrors of war into sharp focus without losing sight of beauty and humanity. His language is clear and unadorned, but his imagery lingers, whether he’s describing a battlefield or a moonlit night. This balance makes *Fairies and Fusiliers* not just a collection of war poetry but a testament to resilience and the power of imagination in the face of destruction. It’s a reminder that even amid chaos, there’s space for wonder, reflection, and the possibility of something beyond the immediate pain.
One of the central themes is the collision between innocence and violence. Poems like "Goliath and David" reframe Biblical and mythic narratives in a wartime context, drawing parallels between ancient battles and the grim realities of modern warfare. At the same time, there’s an undercurrent of disillusionment—Graves doesn’t romanticize war. Instead, he presents it as a harsh and dehumanizing experience, often laced with irony. "A Dead Boche" captures the stark reality of a soldier’s perspective, stripped of sentimentality.
Another recurring theme is the pull between the past and the present. Graves weaves myth and folklore into his work, as seen in "The Cruel Moon," creating a sense of timelessness. This is juxtaposed with the very immediate and visceral imagery of war. The title itself suggests this duality: “Fairies” invokes whimsy and escape, while “Fusiliers” grounds the collection in the military life and its hardships. This contrast highlights how imagination becomes a refuge from trauma.
Structurally, the poems vary, but many lean toward traditional forms, with clear rhyme schemes and rhythm. This structured approach adds a sense of control to themes that are often chaotic and overwhelming. The formality of the structure doesn’t dull the impact; instead, it makes the content feel sharper, as if the rules of the poem are holding back a flood of raw emotion.
The tone shifts throughout the collection, from playful to bitter, wistful to grim. In "Cherry-Time," there’s a lightheartedness that feels almost like a reprieve, while in "The Last Post," the sorrow is heavy and unrelenting. The poems often carry a layer of irony, reflecting Graves’ awareness of the absurdities and contradictions of war. Even his lighter works often contain an edge, a subtle reminder of the darker backdrop against which they’re set.
What ties these poems together is Graves’ ability to balance opposites. He brings the horrors of war into sharp focus without losing sight of beauty and humanity. His language is clear and unadorned, but his imagery lingers, whether he’s describing a battlefield or a moonlit night. This balance makes *Fairies and Fusiliers* not just a collection of war poetry but a testament to resilience and the power of imagination in the face of destruction. It’s a reminder that even amid chaos, there’s space for wonder, reflection, and the possibility of something beyond the immediate pain.
May 24, 2017
Tender, often melancholic, frequently quite beautiful.
April 25, 2018
Excellent. Thought I would hate it, but actually loved it. Definitely one of the easier war poets to read.
July 15, 2023
Graves in this work is not the poet he would become.
April 23, 2017
Robert Graves was a very fine poet. There were several others: Siegfried Sassoon, Edward Thomas, Wilfred Owen, etc., who wrote poems from the trenches of WWI. Graves survived after being badly wounded.
This collection was first published in 1917.
This collection was first published in 1917.
March 3, 2013
This was my first exposure to Graves. It is a beautiful collection of his poetry. This is the kind of poetry that makes you want to commit it to memory.
May 13, 2015
Oddly cute & scary.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews