The First World War (1914–1918) changed Britain to a degree that was unthinkÂable in 1914. Pre-war cerÂtainÂties and valÂues such as honÂor, fatherÂland and progress disÂinÂteÂgratÂed on the batÂtleÂfields and trenchÂes in France and BelÂgium. New techÂnolÂoÂgy such as tanks, machine guns, grenades, flame throwÂers and poiÂson gas were used to destroy the eneÂmy; conÂstant fire for days on end was intendÂed to break the solÂdiers in the trenchÂes. UnspeakÂable horÂrors led to psyÂchoÂlogÂiÂcal probÂlems of unknown proÂporÂtions.
CopÂing with these horÂrors durÂing and after The Great War (as it’s still called in Britain today) seemed like a HerÂculean task to poets — how do you put the unspeakÂable into words? Some poets, e.g. Rupert Brooke, still celÂeÂbratÂed the heroÂism of the EngÂlish solÂdiers (e.g., 1914 II. SafeÂty), whereÂas othÂers, such as WilÂfred Owen, tried to describe the horÂrors of this war (e.g., Dulce et DecoÂrum Est).
Every year on the SunÂday closÂest to NovemÂber 11, Britain rememÂbers the dead of the First World War. For RememÂbrance Day 2012, famous British actors were asked to recite First World War poetÂry. The finÂished clips were to be shown on TV that day. The video above shows three actors recitÂing four poems by Rupert Brooke and WilÂfred Owen (click the names of the actors for inforÂmaÂtion about them and the titles of the poems for the full text):
- Sean Bean reads WilÂfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth”
- GemÂma ArterÂton reads WilÂfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”
- Sophie OkoneÂdo reads Rupert Brooke’s “The SolÂdier”
- Sean Bean reads WilÂfred Owen’s “The Last Laugh”
Bonus mateÂrÂiÂal:
- A litÂtle known yet very powÂerÂful poem by TE Hulme: TrenchÂes: St Eloi
- Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war
- UniÂverÂsiÂty of Oxford: First World War PoetÂry DigÂiÂtal Archive
By proÂfesÂsion, Matthias RaschÂer teachÂes EngÂlish and HisÂtoÂry at a High School in northÂern Bavaria, GerÂmany. In his free time he scours the web for good links and posts the best finds on TwitÂter.
