Voices of Silence (53 page)

Christmas Truce
,
Satire and Sentiment
.

A Soldier’s Testament
,
The Gutter and the Stars
.

The Cry
. The poem is signed ‘W.K.S.’, and was copied into an autograph book belonging to Helen B. Woods of the Heytesbury Soldiers’ Club, by 513 J. Tilley of No. 5 Camp, Sutton Veny, on 10 November 1917. Tilley was part of the AIF. Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum.

To any Diplomatist
,
Poems Written during the Great War
. Dated February 1916. Originally published in
The Herald
.

From the Youth of all Nations
,
Oxford Poetry 1914–1916
.

Sonnet of a Son
,
The Gutter and the Stars
. The poem is dated 1915.

A Veteran’s View
,
The Night Sister
.

Socialist
,
Clouds and the Sun
. The poem is dated 1915.

The Pity of It
,
Punch
, vol. 149, 8 September 1915.

To the Nations
,
The Gutter and the Stars
.

Waste
,
The Unutterable Beauty
. The poem is subscribed ‘Mudros, January 1916’.

Wails to the Mail
,
‘New Church’ Times
, vol. 1, no. 4, 29 May 1916. The poem is dated 22 May 1916. Reprinted in
Poems
, where stanza 3, line 5, begins with ‘——ua’, completing the name ‘Joshua’. Lord Northcliffe (1865–1921) was the hugely influential publisher of
The Times
,
Daily Mail
and
Daily Mirror
. A fierce critic of Kitchener and Asquith, he supported David Lloyd George. Robert Blatchford (1851–1943) was a left-wing journalist who worked under the name of Nunquam. Sir Edward Grey (1862–1933) was British Foreign Secretary at the outbreak of the war and until December 1916. He spoke the famous words: ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime’; Herbert Asquith (1852–1928) was British Prime Minister at the outbreak of war until his resignation in December 1916; Reginald McKenna (1863–1943) was moved from being Home Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer at the outbreak of war. He was opposed to conscription, and resigned from office when Lloyd George replaced Asquith as Prime Minister in December 1916; ‘double L’s’ is David Lloyd George (1863–1945), who served with the Asquith administration, until he succeeded in ousting him from office in December 1916 and replacing him as Prime Minister; K.J. is probably Kennedy Jones, one of Northcliffe’s trusted employees, who oversaw the relaunch of the
Mirror
in 1903.

The Only Way
,
Five Souls
. The poem is dated June 1915. Henri Bergson (1859–1941), the noted French philosopher. Zoroaster (
c.
630–
c.
550
BC
), the Persian philosopher otherwise known as Zarathustra. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, author of
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
and famed for his phrase ‘God is dead’, which pointed to the impending crisis in European thought following the erosion of its traditional foundations.

The Last Rally
,
A Treasury of War Poetry
. Originally published in
Century Magazine
.

Conscription and Conscience
,
New Statesman
, vol. 5, no. 130, 2 October 1915. The poem is signed ‘S.’.

Freedom on the Job!
,
The Tribunal
, 4 October 1917. The poem is signed ‘Simple Simon’.

Lieutenant Tattoon, M.C.
,
Three Ballads
(
an Intermezzo in War-time
). Reprinted in
The Tribunal
, 29 November 1917, where it was signed ‘E.C.’. Lieutenant Tattoon is Siegfried Sassoon, who had sent Carpenter a copy of his ‘Statement against the continuation of the war – 1917’, which said in part: ‘I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest . . . I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.’ Sassoon was diagnosed as suffering from neurasthenia, and sent to Craiglockhart Hospital, a move that helped to defuse the embarrassment caused by his protest.

The Pacifist
,
The Ploughshare
.

To a Pacifist
,
The Survivors
.

To any Pacifist
,
Five Souls
. The poem is dated December 1916.

The True Pacifist
,
The Ploughshare
, vol. 1, no. 6, July 1916.

To the Followers of Christ among the Belligerent Nations
,
Evangelical Christendom
, March– April 1915. Reprinted in
Goodwill
, vol. 2, no. 1, 1 January 1916. The sub-title comes from Romans 12: 5: ‘We are one body in Christ.’

A New Hymn
,
News Sheet
, no. 9.

Song of the Friends Ambulance Unit
,
The Swallow
, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1917. ‘Penn’ is William Penn (1644–1718). An early Quaker, he promoted the settlement of international differences by arbitration rather than by war. Richmond Hill is the site of the Star and Garter Home.

C.O.s in Prison
,
The Tribunal
, 25 October 1917. The poem purports to be ‘By the Mother of one of them’.

I Lived a Year in London
,
Carols of a Convict
. To be sung to the tune of ‘The Low-back’d Car’.

A Call from Prison
,
The Tribunal
, 22 November 1917.

From Prison
,
New Crusader
, 25 January 1918. Reprinted in
The Tribunal
, 14 March 1918.

Compensation
,
Winchester Whisperer, Fortnightly from His Majesty’s Prison, Winchester
, no. 6, 21 December 1918. Clandestine manuscript prison magazine, circulated among the prisoners. Library of Friends’ House.

Prisoners of War
,
Country Life
, vol. 44, no. 1126, 3 August 1918.

Rastatt
,
Sonnets from a Prison Camp
. The poem is subscribed ‘Rastatt, 7 May [1918]’. In the Foreword, Bowman says: ‘It is no mere poetical exaggeration to say that in the first days of captivity at least, the writing of the sonnets was a labour that “stood between my soul and madness” . . . I wish to express my indebtedness to Captain Hohnholz, Commandant of the Prison-Camp at Hesepe, to whose kindness I owe it that I am able to offer the sonnets as they stand for publication. Offizier-Gefangenenlager, Hesepe, 17 August 1918.’

Loneliness
,
Gloucestershire Friends
.

Thoughts of Home
,
Sonnets from a Prison Camp
. The poem is dated 21 May [1918].

Requiescat
,
Ducks
. ‘W.M.’ was shot while trying to escape. Harvey wrote of him: ‘He was one of the gentlest and bravest souls I ever knew’ (quoted in Anthony Boden,
F.W. Harvey: Soldier, Poet
(Sutton, 1988), p. 171).

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE ROYAL NAVY

The Sailing of the Fleet
,
A Naval Motley
.

The Four Sea Lords
,
Punch
, vol. 147, 9 December 1914. Osborne is the Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight. An ‘Astra Torres’ was a French-designed airship.

Destroyers
,
Destroyers
. Originally published in
Yale Review
.

Mine Sweepers
,
Spectator
, vol. 115, no. 4526, 27 March 1915. The poem is subscribed ‘Grimsby 8 March’.

Submarines
,
Craigleith Hospital Chronicle
, vol. 1, no. 5, April 1915. Reprinted in
Dies Heroica
.

You Never Can Tell
,
Songs from the Trenches
.

[
Sing us a song of the Northern Seas
],
Aussie
, no. 4, 4 April 1918.

Low Visibility
,
Songs of the Submarine
. The poem is signed ‘Klaxon’. William Edward Hall’s
International Law
(1880); Henry Halleck’s
International Law, or, Rules Regulating the Intercourse of States in Peace of War
(1861). Agag was the King of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared (1 Samuel 15: 8–9). The Rt Hon. Sir Samuel Evans (1859–1919) was Solicitor General 1908–10. A scramasax is a Frankish hunting knife.

The Auxiliary Cruiser
,
A Treasury of War Poetry
. Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1537–83), explorer and soldier. According to the
ODNB
: ‘about midnight on 9 September 1583, and having encountered a fierce storm around the Azores, the
Squirrel
, with Gilbert on board, was engulfed by sea . . . Gilbert was last seen standing on deck with a book in his hand. His final words, shouted over to the
Golden Hind
, were “We are as near to heaven by sea as by land”’.

To Fritz
,
Songs of the Submarine
. The poem is signed ‘Klaxon’.

The Armed Liner
,
From Field & Hospital
.

The Lusitania
,
Craigleith Hospital Chronicle
, vol. 2, no. 8, July 1915. Reprinted in
Dies Heroica
.

Below
,
Craigleith Hospital Chronicle
, vol. 2, no. 12, November 1915. Admiral David Beatty (1871– 1936) commanded the Grand Fleet’s Battle Cruiser Squadron from 1913, and took over as Commander of the Grand Fleet in November 1916 after Jellicoe was appointed First Sea Lord. He was the first to engage the Germans in the Battle of Jutland.

Wet Ships
,
Songs of the Submarine
. The poem is signed ‘Klaxon’.

The Battle off Jutland
,
For the Sceptre of the Sea
. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (1859–1935) was appointed Commander of the Grand Fleet at the outbreak of war. He became First Sea Lord in November 1916.

War Chant of the Harbour-Huns
,
Fifth Gloucester Gazette
, no. 15, October 1916. The poem is signed ‘M.L.G.’.

How Tirpitz Won the Battle Off Jutland
,
Kemmel Times
, vol. 1, no. 1, 3 July 1916.

A British Boy
,
Craigleith Hospital Chronicle
, vol. 4, no. 19, August 1916.

Epigram, R.B.
,
Eidola
.

‘Si Monumentum Requiris’
,
The Night Sister
. The title comes from ‘Lector, si Monumentum Requiris, circumspice’, translates as ‘Reader, if you seek a memorial, look around you’, which is inscribed to Sir Christopher Wren inside St Paul’s Cathedral.

Winston’s Last Phase
,
Punch
, vol. 151, 18 October 1916. After the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, Churchill was removed from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty and given the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned from parliament and rejoined the army, serving on the Western Front and rising to the rank of colonel.

Stories for Our Sons
,
Comrades of the Mist
. Originally published in
Arklight
, the weekly newspaper of the US ship
Arkansas
, attached to the Sixth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. Admiral Franz von Hipper (1863–1932) was responsible for the naval bombardment of Scarborough early in the war. He opened hostilities against Beatty at Jutland in June 1916 and oversaw the surrender of the German Fleet in 1918.

CHAPTER NINE: THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS

A Recruiting Song of the Royal Flying Corps
,
Tommy’s Tunes
. Dating from 1915–16, an air-mechanic’s song. ‘Thirty chest’ meant thirty-inch measurement; two bob (shillings) a day was the pay of a second-class air mechanic; four bob was that of a first-class mechanic, and ‘first’ refers to promotion from second to first class. Larkhill was at one time a training ground for drill, etc.

Jimmy
,
The Fledgling
, vol. 1, no. 5, October 1917. The poem is signed ‘G.R.S.’.

A Song of the Air
,
Oxford and Flanders
.

R.A.F.
,
Front Line Lyrics
.

The Dawn Patrol
,
More Songs by the Fighting Men
.

A Perfect Day
,
The Fledgling
, vol. 1, no. 1, June 1917. A Halberstadt was a type of German aircraft. Heidsieck is a make of champagne.

Song of the Aeroplane
,
K[ite]. B[alloon]. Tonic
, no. 24, 12 December 1915. The poem is signed ‘H.L.M.’.

Peace Song of the Aeroplanes
,
Fifth Gloucester Gazette
, no. 12, May 1916. The poem is signed ‘M.L.G.’ and is no. 1 in a group of three poems entitled ‘Kings of the Air’. [
Here in the eye of the sun
], manuscript poem in the RAF Museum (DC71/15/7). The poem is subscribed: ‘St André au Bois, France, June 1918’. A Pup was a single-seater Sopwith biplane.

Reconnaissance
,
The Muse in Arms
.

Over the Lines
,
Airman’s Song Book
. Sung by the RFC squadrons, France, 1917–18, to the tune of ‘I’ll be off to Tipperary in the morning’. A Fokker was a German monoplane with a machine gun that fired through the propeller; it inflicted heavy casualties on Allied aeroplanes in 1915–16.

Semi-Detached
,
‘New Church’ Times
, vol. 1, no. 4, 29 May 1916.

Eyes in the Air
,
The Guns
. Originally published in
Land & Water
, vol. 66, no. 2802, 20 January 1916, under the heading ‘A Song of the Guns’.

Ten German Aeroplanes
,
Craigleith Hospital Chronicle
, vol. 5, no. 30, September 1917. The poem is signed ‘M.M.’.

Two Pictures
,
Oxford and Flanders
.

Searchlights
,
The Bombing of Bruges
. Originally published in
Graphic
.

Every Little While
,
Airman’s Song Book
. A parody sung by RFC pilots at mess parties in 1917– 18 to the popular song of the same name. The Sopwith Camel was a scout aeroplane that carried Vickers and Lewis guns.

[
Captain Riddell, R.F.C.
],
The Gnome
, no. 5, August 1917. The poem is signed ‘D.O’D.’.