The War Poems of Wilfred Owen
by Wilfred Owen, ed. John Stallworthy
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“He became the quintessential war poet, certainly in a British context. Not during his lifetime. But in England, Owen is a poet that everyone will have encountered in some way. Owen’s poetry sometimes gets described as ‘anti-war’. I don’t think I’d go that far. It’s important to note that he was not a conscientious objector, he was in uniform. He won a Military Cross. So he was actually quite a successful soldier, later on in his service. But he is a poet who highlights the horror of the war for many people, and is sceptical of ideas of heroism, service, duty, and all those other concepts brought to the fore by the government, church, and the right-wing press in terms of encouraging people to join up. It combines realism—an almost journalistic, unblinking focus on the realities—with very poetic language, which partly came from the strong influence of the Romantics.” Read more...
The best books on Poetry of the First World War
Guy Cuthbertson, Literary Scholar
“I had a battered edition I used to carry around with me. Owen speaks to me about the reality of warfare more than any other book about war” Read more...
The best books on Reportage and War
Martin Bell, Foreign Correspondent
“I think Owen found war terrifying and emotionally draining. And in many respects he wrote poetry to try and explain some of the things that he was seeing. What he does address in all of his poems about the First World War is the utter pity of the situation.” Read more...
Andrew Cayley, Lawyer
