War Cartoon detail, Rothenstein* |
For
a mother to lose a son in wartime – that is indescribable grief -- and so it's
nearly impossible to comprehend the experience of Ettie Grenfell, who lost two
of her boys in just over two months. Her
eldest son, Julian, died May 26, 1915; his younger brother Gerald William,
known to the family as Billy, was killed July 30, 1915, less than a mile from where
his brother had been wounded in Belgium.
Both sons wrote poems: Julian, best known for the rousing "Into Battle," is one of the sixteen British war poets commemorated in Westminster Abbey. His younger brother Billy is one of the lost voices of the war: his only poem was published posthumously in the 1917 anthology The Muse in Arms. A brief note at the front of the book acknowledges that the poem was contributed to the anthology by his parents. The younger Grenfell's poem was written in response to the death of John Manners, who was killed in the first weeks of the war on September 1, 1914 when his platoon failed to receive the order to retreat. Manners' body has never been found. His name is listed on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial, along with the names of over 3,700 other British soldiers who have become known as the Missing of the Marne.
Both sons wrote poems: Julian, best known for the rousing "Into Battle," is one of the sixteen British war poets commemorated in Westminster Abbey. His younger brother Billy is one of the lost voices of the war: his only poem was published posthumously in the 1917 anthology The Muse in Arms. A brief note at the front of the book acknowledges that the poem was contributed to the anthology by his parents. The younger Grenfell's poem was written in response to the death of John Manners, who was killed in the first weeks of the war on September 1, 1914 when his platoon failed to receive the order to retreat. Manners' body has never been found. His name is listed on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial, along with the names of over 3,700 other British soldiers who have become known as the Missing of the Marne.
To
John
(the
Hon. John Manners)
by William
Grenfell
O
heart-and-soul and careless played
Our little band of brothers,
And never recked the time would come
To change our games for others.
It's joy for those who played with you
To picture now what grace
Was in your mind and single heart
And in your radiant face.
Your light-foot strength by flood and field
For England keener glowed;
To whatsoever things are fair
We know, through you, the road;
Nor is our grief the less thereby;
O swift and strong and dear, good-bye.
Our little band of brothers,
And never recked the time would come
To change our games for others.
It's joy for those who played with you
To picture now what grace
Was in your mind and single heart
And in your radiant face.
Your light-foot strength by flood and field
For England keener glowed;
To whatsoever things are fair
We know, through you, the road;
Nor is our grief the less thereby;
O swift and strong and dear, good-bye.
Grenfell describes the death of his close friend, a boy
he played with, a man he grew up with who was like a brother. The poem proclaims that never could
any of them have imagined that they would "change our games" for
others – for the deadly game of war that ended the life of John Manners with
such blunt finality.
Writing out of an incredulous sense of what has been
lost, Grenfell romanticizes and shapes the experience into something he can
hold on to: the game has changed, but his friend's strength and speed were not
wasted. Instead, John Manners has won a
more noble victory "For England," and through his sacrifice, those
who knew and loved him are able to see more clearly the road to
"whatsoever things are fair"-- to an afterlife of glory.
Critics might argue that "To John" is not
a particularly good poem: it lacks vivid images and relies on abstract ideas
and clichés. But it is a poem worth remembering,
for it honestly shares the emotions of an experience that is heartbreakingly common
in wartime. For the first thirteen
lines, the poem seeks to find comfort in recalling memories of a golden past, in
celebrating the meaning of the sacrifice, and in affirming the hope of an
afterlife. The last line subtly shifts in tone, and the heartbreak
of the loss breaks through. The poem closes with a personal and final farewell to a dear friend who was "swift and
strong and dear" – none of which were enough to save him.
Grenfell himself was killed in action,
joining his friend John Manners as yet another of the hundreds of thousands of
the dead of the First World War who have no known grave. Gerald William Grenfell's name is listed among the missing on
the Menin Gate outside Ypres, Belgium.
*War Cartoon: (L
to R) Charles Lister, John Manners, Julian Grenfell, Rupert Brooke, G.W. Grenfell, Hugo Charteris, Yvo Charteris (University of Southhampton)
Housman's light-foot lads and Shakespeare's band of brothers. If literature is one of the ways in which we help to make sense of ourselves in the world, then I'm interested in what resources the guys in the trenches had in their heads. And what books in their packs...
ReplyDeleteThe Golden Treasury quite often
DeleteAh, lovely catch on the allusions! What books were in their packs, or what lines were in their heads? I've been reading about the lost art of memorization....
ReplyDeleteComes from the same spring as Brooke's "Peace" - swimmers into cleanness leaping etc
ReplyDeleteYes even in the late 60's part of my education in the UK was regular memorisation of poems and chunks of Shakespeare - hated the process at the time but now regard it as a great blessing
ReplyDeleteA great blessing indeed: there's been increasing evidence lauding the value of memorizing poetry, speeches, plays, etc. And very nice water metaphor ("from the same spring")! Thanks for reading and responding, Ian.
Delete