Getting Organised

You will need to make some notes about these poets, so make sure you have
everything you need.
 What Was a War Poet
A war poet is someone who has participated in a war and written poetry about it.
Traditionally, the term relates to poetry written by soldiers who served in World
War I, but these days it is poetry written about any war.

Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried

Sassoon are amongst some of the most
famous war poets, all writing about their
experiences during WWI.
 In the Beginning
'In the beginning, soldiers writing about war were proud to fight. They believed
in doing their bit for the United Kingdom, and thought it was a worthy thing, to
march towards the enemy and fight.

However, as the war

continued, soldiers
began to feel
disillusioned. They
watched their comrades
die in front of them, or
become terribly
injured. The men that
did survive were scared
by their experiences,
and began to write
poetry about that.
 Robert Graves
Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon,
London in 1895.
He gained a reputation for his realistic
poems about experience of frontline
conflict.

At the Battle of the Somme, he was

so badly wounded that he was
officially reported as having died
of wounds.
He recovered but returned
to England for the
remainder of the war.
 Shell Shock
Robert Graves suffered with shell shock.

Of the experience, he wrote: Shell shock:

“I thought of going back to France, but realised Shell shock describes the
the absurdity of the notion. Since 1916, the fear reaction of some soldiers
of gas obsessed me: any unusual smell, even a in World War I to the
sudden strong smell of flowers in a garden, was trauma of battle. It is a
enough to send me trembling. And I couldn't reaction to the intensity of
face the sound of heavy shelling now; the noise the fighting that produced
of a car back-firing would send a helplessness appearing
me flat on my face, as panic and being scared,
or running or flight, an inability to
for cover”. reason, sleep, walk or
talk.
 Sigfried Sasson
Born in 1886, Sassoon described the
horrors of war on the front line and also
criticised those who had sent young boys to
fight.
He protested against the continuation of
war, which resulted in him being admitted
to a military psychiatric hospital.
He became intent on conveying the ugly
truths of the trenches.
 Ewart Alan Mackintosh
Ewart Alan McIntosh was born in 1893 in
Sussex. He tried to join the army immediately
after war broke out in 1914 and while still
studying at university. He was rejected on the
grounds of his poor eyesight but was later
accepted by the Seaforth Highlanders.

On 16 May he led a raid near Arras where

fourteen of his men were wounded and two
were killed. One of them, David Sutherland,
inspired a poem "In Memoriam”. Mackintosh
was killed in action on the second day of the
Battle of Cambrai, 21st November 1917.
 Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 and died in
battle in 1918, aged 25.
He wrote shocking, realistic war poetry about
the horrors of trenches and
gas warfare.

Owen fell into a shell hole and suffered

concussion; he was blown up by a trench
mortar and spent several days unconscious on
an embankment.
Owen returned to France to continue to fight
on the front line. He was killed in action one
week before the agreement to end the war was
signed.
 Your Task
• Using your notes, choose one of the poets that interest you.

• Create a fact file about that poet.

• Find some of their poems and write about what you think about it.

• Which parts did you find most emotive or effective?