Voices of Silence

The poetry of the First World War has determined our perception of the war itself. Yet this perception is based on the interpretation of a few poets who have become household names, among them writers such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Isaac Rosenberg. Less literary but equally important, the poetry gathered together in this volume has been drawn from old newspapers and journals, trench and hospital magazines, individual volumes of verse, gift books, postcards, and an illicit manuscript magazine put together by conscientious objectors. For the first time, the huge body of rich, exciting, and often deeply moving work that complements the established literary canon has been revived. It adds a new dimension to our perception of the immediate response to war, not least in the soldiers' recurring and important use of humor. Written by the men for the men, these verses reflect an aspect of the national character which contributes to our understanding of how they were able to endure.