My sincere thanks to Steve Cloutier from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who sent me the titles of Canadian poetry collections of the First World War. That is absolutely fantastic Steve - thank you again.
It means so much to me to be able to collect together so many women poets from all around the world to share with all those who enjoy poetry and to spread the word about those amazing women, many of whom appear to have been overlooked.
I will go through these as soon as possible and report back to you.
Monday, 30 June 2014
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Poetry written by School Children during after and about WW1
My grateful thanks to Kelly Jones of Wimbledon High School who sent me a fantastic number of poems, stories and illustrations concerning the poems and war efforts of pupils at the school during WW1. These are very impressive. I will process them and share them with you as soon as possible, as well as producing a panel for the exhibitions.
To
Emma Hattersley and Mrs Clarkson of the Godolphin School in Salisbury who also sent me a large number of poems written by pupils at that time. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is perhaps better remembered for her prose but who also wrote poetry, was a former pupil of The Godolphin School, which she left in 1911.
To
John Barnes, Chairman of the Old Trafford Branch of the Royal British Legion, Greater Manchester, for giving me a copy of the poetry written recently by pupils of St. George's Primary School, Darlington Street, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester - great to see today's school children are also remembering WW1. I thought you might like to see this, so here is the link: http://counties.britishlegion.org.uk/media/3664721/remembrance-poem-booklet1.pdf
and to
Stanley Kaye of Peterborough (he of poppy see planting fame) who sends me regular suggestions for poets.
I have a large amount to go through, research and write up so I am not going to be bored. If I did nothing else at all between now and June 2019 I still don't think I would have the complete picture.
Thank you all for your very valuable help with this project.
Onwards!
To
Emma Hattersley and Mrs Clarkson of the Godolphin School in Salisbury who also sent me a large number of poems written by pupils at that time. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is perhaps better remembered for her prose but who also wrote poetry, was a former pupil of The Godolphin School, which she left in 1911.
To
John Barnes, Chairman of the Old Trafford Branch of the Royal British Legion, Greater Manchester, for giving me a copy of the poetry written recently by pupils of St. George's Primary School, Darlington Street, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester - great to see today's school children are also remembering WW1. I thought you might like to see this, so here is the link: http://counties.britishlegion.org.uk/media/3664721/remembrance-poem-booklet1.pdf
and to
Stanley Kaye of Peterborough (he of poppy see planting fame) who sends me regular suggestions for poets.
I have a large amount to go through, research and write up so I am not going to be bored. If I did nothing else at all between now and June 2019 I still don't think I would have the complete picture.
Thank you all for your very valuable help with this project.
Onwards!
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Slight departure - Event celebrating the life of Isaac Rosenberg the WW1 soldier poet - Friday, 27th June at National Portrait Gallery, London at 18.30 BST
There is to be a Free Public Event at The National Portrait Gallery in London on Friday 27 June 2014 at 18.30 BST.
To view the full colour flyer click on the link to the website of The War Poets Association Website
The event is entitled "The Ballad of Whitechapel: A commemoration of the life and work of Isaac Rosenberg: the school boy, the soldier, the poet, the portrait painter" -
With grateful thanks to Stanley Kaye for bringing this to my attention.
For details of the appeal to raise funds to build a statue to the memory of Isaac Rosenberg, please see the website http://www.jeecs.org.uk - the Chairman - Clive Bettington - has been very supportive of my project.
New WW1 Anthology "Great Ward Poetry"
The British actress Prunella Scales has helped to launch a book that gives a fresh look at the First World War through the poetry of the men and women of one of London's WW1 hospitals - the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building in Wandsworth, known as No. 3 Hospital.
"Great Ward Poetry" tells the story of the men and women who worked or were treated at the Hospital/.
For every books sold, a contribution will be made to SSAFA - the charity that looks after the families of serving forces personnel.
For further details, please see :https://www.ssafa.org.uk/news/2014/06/26/Prunella-Scales-helps-launch-WW1-poetry-book/
With grateful thanks to Stanley Kaye of the Facebook Group "Remembering World War One in 2014 One Hundred Years". Stanley's idea is to fill the world with poppies in remembrance.
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Thank You
http://www.centenarynews.com/article/?id=907
I would also like to say Hi and welcome to Sarah - hope you enjoy browsing Sarah and thank you so much for your invaluable help today.
And a huge thank you to Steve Cloutier from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who sent me a parcel of photocopies of Canadian war poetry books which arrived this morning.
Thank you all so much - your support, help and advice is very much appreciated.
Photo: Cornflowers by P. Breeze
Note: Cornflowers, according to my French friends 'bluets', were originally the symbol of Remembrance in France where they grew in profusion among the wheat, corn and poppies of Flanders. I understand they are now quite rare so I've been trying to find packets of seeds so as to bring them back. Here are some I saw recently - to say "Hi" to all my friends over the Channel. Cornflowers were also the favourite flower of my lovely friend Ann Fothergill Moss who sadly died many years ago but who is never forgotten.
Friday, 20 June 2014
Seeking Information about Sarah Toye
I posted a poem written by Sarah Toye on the weblog on 8th December 2013. A few days ago I received a lovely message from a lady called Rozzie.
If you read this Rozzie, please can you let me have further information about Sarah? And do you know if she wrote any more poems?
I hope to hear from you and from anyone who knows of poets I have not yet discovered.
If you read this Rozzie, please can you let me have further information about Sarah? And do you know if she wrote any more poems?
I hope to hear from you and from anyone who knows of poets I have not yet discovered.
Frida Bettingen (1865 - 1924) - German
My grateful thanks to Penelope Monkhouse+ for the original post and to AC Benus** for his help with updating this post and for his wonderful translatiion work
She grew up in Altenburg and married the school teacher Franz Bettingen from Krefeld in 1885. The family lived in Krefeld for 24 years until Franz Bettingen's death, after which they moved to Jena.
Frida and Franz had a son who was killed in 1914 in the early part of the First World War, which led to serious psychological problems for her. From 1917 onwards she stayed in sanatoriums several times.
In 1921 Frida spent some time in a psychiatric clinic in Jena, returned home but was sent there again in 1923. Her main poetry collections were Eva und Abel. Kriegsjahr 1918, den Müttern zugeeignet. 1919; Gedichte. 1922; Himmelsbürde. 1937
Frida died on 1st May 1924 in the Jena Psychiatric Hospital. Her third volume of poetry, Himmelsbürde, was published posthumously in the magazine “Das Gedicht. Blätter für die Dichtung” .
“Frida’s poetry collection “Eva and Abel. War year 1918”, dedicated to mothers, was published by Bagel, Düsseldorf, Germany in 1919.
The writer AC Benus* has very kindly translated one of Frida's poems for us:
"Von den Müttern"
Ich will von den Müttern reden,
die ihre Söhne hingaben.
Von denen will ich reden,
die ihren Schmerz hintragen
durch graue Tage,
und das Netzwerk vieler Sorgen.
Eingeschlossen
in die köstlichen Urnen ihres Wollens.
Sie tasten nicht in das zukünftige Land.
Sie wohnen darin.
Wenn die Nacht die Fenster des Hauses blendet,
öffnen sie die schweigenden Gemächer ihrer Seele.
Ihre Hände halten kleine, leblose Dinge.
Vergilbte Kinderbilder,
ihre Seelen liegen nackt –
hinströmend –
im Schoße des geliebten Namens.
Sie stehen an den talwärts fließenden
Wassern des Lebens.
Ohne Bitterkeit.
Hinwachsend über die verdunkelten Sterne
ihres Geschickes.
"For the War Mothers" - written in 1916
I will now speak of the mothers,
those who gave their sons to the war.
I demand to speak of those
who valiantly carry pain
through gray days of terror,
and their network of diverse cares.
Sealed away in
the exquisite urns of their wants and willpower.
They do not blindly grope for a future world.
They live in it now.
When night comes and shades the windows of their homes,
each will open up the deathly still chambers of their souls.
Within their hands, they grasp at small, lifeless objects.
Yellowed pictures of children,
their spirits are then laid bare –
burst open –
in the cradling lap of a loved one’s name.
They stand besides the waters of life
washing down valleys.
Without bitterness.
Ascending one step at a time over the blackened stars
that are now their lot.
Sources:
Some of the information for this panel was collected, translated and contributed by Penelope Monkhouse from Germany.
+Penelope Monkhouse (*1952) is a German-British scientist living in Schwetzingen/Germany and is a granddaughter of the novelist, dramatist and literary critic Allan Monkhouse. Literature of the early 20thcentury is one of her chief non-scientific interests.
**AC Benus is an author, poet, translator and historian. He is the author of "The Thousandth Regiment: A Translation of and Commentary on Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele’s War Poems” by AC Benus (AC Benus, San Francisco, 2020). Along with Hans's story, the book includes original poems as well as translations into English by AC Benus. ISBN: 978-1657220584 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1657220583
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