The term war poet came into currency during and after World War I. A number of poets writing in English had been soldiers, and had written about that experience. Quite a number had died, most famously Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, and Charles Sorley. Others such as Siegfried Sassoon had survived, but made a reputation based on scathing poetry written from the disabused point of view of the trench soldier who had lost faith in his military superiors. At the time the term soldier poet was also used, but then dropped out of favour. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... A poet exists within a cultural and intellectual tradition and usually writes in a specific language, but the qualities of good poetry are to some extent timeless and address issues common to all humanity. ... A statue of Rupert Brooke in Rugby Rupert Chawner Brooke (August 3, 1887 – April 23, 1915) was a British poet best known for his idealistic War Sonnets written during the First World War. ... Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, MC (March 18, 1893 – November 4, 1918) was an English poet. ... Charles Hamilton Sorley (May 19, 1895 - October 13, 1915) was a British poet of World War I. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was educated, like Siegfried Sassoon, at Marlborough College (1908-1913). ... Siegfried Sassoon, 1916 Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE , MC (September 8, 1886 – September 1, 1967) was an English poet and author. ...

World War I

There was probably at least as much poetry of quality written on the German side of the Western Front; but it was in English poetry that the war poem became an established genre marker, and attracted growing popular interest. Americans and Canadians contributed notable work (John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields which is on the Canadian $10 bill), and the French had their own war poetry. According to Patrick Bridgwater in The German Poets of the First World War, the closest comparison to Owen would be Anton Schnack; and Schnack's only peer would be August Stramm. Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West. ... Many regard William Shakespeare as the greatest English poet ever. ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ... Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem In Flanders Fields. ... Wreaths of artificial poppies used as a symbol of remembrance In Flanders Fields is one of the most famous poems about World War I, in the form of a French rondeau. ... August Stramm (July 29, 1874–September 1, 1915) was a German poet and playwright who is considered one of the first of the expressionists. ...

It is perhaps not a well-defined question, what makes a war poet (compare, say, Brooke and Georg Trakl). The public may have seen war poems as reportage and direct emotional links to the soldier. Robert Graves served in the trenches and survived, David Jones also; Graves did not use war experience as poetic material (making it autobiography in Goodbye to All That), or, more accurately, later suppressed what he had made of it; and Jones postponed its use, incorporating it into modernist forms. These and other WWI poets are listed here: World War I poets. Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (February 3, 1887 - November 3, 1914), pre-eminent Austrian poet. ... Reportage can be a single journalists report of news (especially when witnessed first-hand), distributed through the media. ... Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English scholar, poet, and novelist. ... David Jones (1895-1974) was both an artist and one of the most important first generation British modernist poets. ... An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as told to or with). The term dates from the late eighteenth century, but the form is much older. ... Goodbye to All That, an autobiography by Robert Graves, first appeared in print in 1929. ...

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War produced a substantial volume of poetry in English and, of course, Spanish too, and other languages — there were English-speaking poets serving on both sides. The Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936–April 1, 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal dictatorship. ...

World War II

By the time of World War II the role of 'war poet' was so well-established in the public mind that 'where are the war poets?' became a topic of discussion. The Times Literary Supplement ran an editorial 'To the Poets of 1940' right at the end of 1939 (still during the phony war, therefore). Robert Graves gave a radio talk 'Why has this War produced no War Poets?' in October 1941. Stephen Spender also replied at about the same time, T. S. Eliot a year later. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... The Times Literary Supplement (or TLS) is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. ... An editorial is a statement or article by a news organization (generally a newspaper) that expresses an opinion rather than attempting to simply report news, as the latter should ideally be done without bias. ... British Ministry of Home Security Poster The Phony War, or in Winston Churchills words the Twilight War, was a phase in early World War II marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the months following the German invasion of Poland. ... Sir Stephen Harold Spender (February 28, 1909 – July 16, 1995) was an English poet and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work. ... T.S. Eliot (by E.O. Hoppe, 1919) Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965) was an American-born poet, dramatist, and literary critic, whose works, such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, and Four Quartets, are considered defining achievements of twentieth...

Alun Lewis and Keith Douglas are the standard critical choices amongst British war poets of that time, and Karl Shapiro made a reputation based on poetry written during the Pacific war; there was probably more heavyweight poetry written in French from 1939-1945, than in English. The reason may be to do with the onward march of technology and the fact that soldiers spent less of their time sitting in trenches waiting for something to happen. Alun Lewis (July 1, 1915 - March 5, 1944), was a poet of the Anglo-Welsh school. ... Keith Douglas (January 24, 1920 - June 9, 1944), was an English poet of World War II. He was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and educated at Christs Hospital and at the University of Oxford. ... Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913-May 14, 2000) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning United States poet, famous for his poetry written in the Pacific Theater while he served there during World War II. His collection V-Letter and Other Poems, written while Shapiro was stationed in New Guinea, was...

The expectation of war poetry can be noted in a character from the C. S. Forester novel The Ship who is a poet serving in a Royal Navy ship in the Mediterranean around 1942, and who is killed in action. Benjamin Britten's War Requiem made use of war poem texts, as does Robert Steadman's "In Memoriam". The cover of the 1974 paperback edition of one of Foresters non-fiction titles: Hunting The Bismarck Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (August 27, 1899 – April 2, 1966), an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure with military themes. ... Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, OM (November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976) was a British composer, conductor and pianist. ... The War Requiem is a requiem composed by Benjamin Britten for the reconsecration of Coventry Cathedral on May 30, 1962 following its destruction during World War II. A mourning song for the victims of war, Britten’s War Requiem is considered one of the great heartrending choral-orchestral works of... Robert Steadman (born April 1, 1965) is a British composer and conductor of classical music who mostly works in a post-minimalist style but also writes lighter music, including musicals, and compositions for educational purposes. ...

Later wars

There has been little recognition of war poetry from any subsequent conflict, certainly when compared with novels. That is not to say, at all, that such conflicts have not affected poets and what they write.

See also

• World War I poets
• Cairo poets