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#secondworldwarpoems
Lawrence Hall [email protected] Dispatches for the Colonial Office                      Did Civilians Write Poetry Back in the Day? A medical professional, while taking my pulse Asked me what I was reading                                    Poetry, I replied Poetry of suffering in the Second World War Most of it by civilians who were there She asked: Did civilians write poetry back in th’ day? I changed the topic to my blood pressure Second World War Poems Ed. Hugh Haughton London: Faber and Faber, 2004 This anthology is brilliant, with poems by soldiers, civilians, concentration camp prisoners, and prisoners of war from many nations. Several of the poems are anonymous, written on scraps of paper found on the bodies of the murdered. There is much fashionable babble about my voice / our voices / authentic voices / my people’s voices, and so on, but here is a fine collection by people whose voices were desperate to tell the truth, not indulge in self-pity, and find beauty among the horror
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Mar 22, 2025
Mar 22, 2025 at 9:25 AM UTC
lawrence-hall
Did Civilians Write Poetry Back in the Day?
Lawrence Hall [email protected] Dispatches for the Colonial Office                      Did Civilians Write Poetry Back in the Day? A medical professional, while taking my pulse Asked me what I was reading                                    Poetry, I replied Poetry of suffering in the Second World War Most of it by civilians who were there She asked: Did civilians write poetry back in th’ day? I changed the topic to my blood pressure Second World War Poems Ed. Hugh Haughton London: Faber and Faber, 2004 This anthology is brilliant, with poems by soldiers, civilians, concentration camp prisoners, and prisoners of war from many nations. Several of the poems are anonymous, written on scraps of paper found on the bodies of the murdered. There is much fashionable babble about my voice / our voices / authentic voices / my people’s voices, and so on, but here is a fine collection by people whose voices were desperate to tell the truth, not indulge in self-pity, and find beauty among the horror
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