Fun Fact Friday Meets Wallpaper Wednesday – Poems of World War I

Each week I set out to research and document ten “fun facts” on a topic loosely based on the two books I’ve reviewed that week.  “Loosely” being the operative word. 

This week I reviewed Maps for the Modern World, by Valerie June Hockett, and Adin Dobkin’s book Sprinting Through No Man’s Land.

I took a chance on a book of poetry, but was well rewarded with Maps for the Modern World. The book is a collection of meditative poems that don’t take themselves too seriously.

In Sprinting Through No Man’s Land, Dobkins covers the challenge of staging and participating in the 1919 Tour de France, which took place only seven months after World War I ended, and covered war torn roads as part of the course. 

World War I inspired much poetry and literature. Many of the poems coming out of the War are still recited and studied today. It is with this in mind that we come to today’s Fun Facts Friday topic – ten poems of World War I.  Just to change things up a bit, I’ve decided to cover these poems in the style of my Wallpaper Wednesday posts. Click on any of the poems pictured below for a full size wallpaper you can download to your computer.

Many of the poems that follow were written by men and women who served – as soldiers or medical staff at the front. The cruelty and harsh reality of the war come through loud and clear. I’ve arranged the poems somewhat chronologically and somewhat thematically. 

So, on to the poems – 

1. “August 1914” by Vera Brittian

2. “New Ally” by Harry Kem

3. “Soldier” by Rupert Brooke 

4. “Champs d’Honneur” by Ernest Hemingway

5. “Wartime Christmas” by Joyce Kilmer 

1. “A Dead Boche” by Robert Graves

2. “Grass” by Carl Sandburg

3. “The General” by Siegfried Sassoon 

4. “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae 

5. “Armistice” by Sophie Jewett 

So there you have it. Ten poems to contemplate from World War I. Do you have a suggestion for one that I missed? What’s your favorite? Let me know by leaving a comment below.