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Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Oxford World's Classics

A new anthology of First World War poetry that brings together the best poetry by soldiers, civilians, and women, with a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak.
Includes a generous representation of the best-known poets, such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Ivor Gurney, as well as lesser known writers who have have been previously overlooked. Includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney.
Organizes the selection by poet, which avoids imposing a distorting narrative or an arbitrary thematic grouping.
Each poet's selection is prefaced with a short contextualizing introduction that provides information about the poet, the circumstances of composition, and connections with other poets of the period.
The Introduction considers Great War poetry and the history of the war poets' reception, challenging prevailing myths about the poets' progress from idealism to bitterness.
Generous notes detail the composition and publication history of the poems and gloss allusions and historical references.

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Tim Kendall has taught at the universities of Oxford, Newcastle, and Bristol before becoming Professor and Head of English at the University of Exeter. His publications for OUP include Modern English War Poetry and The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, and he is writing War Poetry: A Very Short Introduction. He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Complete Literary Works of Ivor Gurney.

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Oxford World's Classics

Reviews and Awards

"Kendall's judicious selections, and his concise and useful introductions to each of the chosen poets, suggest that his anthology will become a standard work." --The Times Literary Supplement

"A superb, unbeatable collection."--Bel Mooney, Daily Mail

"The best poetry collection I read...brilliantly edited, with illuminating notes."--Jerard Bretts, The Guardian

"This is a thoroughly well produced anthology of powerful and fascinating poems."--Sheenagh Pugh

"This is much the best selection yet made ... Kendall selects brilliantly."--Peter McDonald, Times Literary Supplement

"As a student-friendly definition of the Great War canon, and as a piece of meticulous scholarship, this one will be hard to beat."--George Simmers, Great War Fiction

"This volume is dedicated to helping us find the best poetry that came out of the 'War To End All Wars."--Sharon Worth,RALPH: The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and the Humanities

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

Ivor Gurney and the poetry of the First World War

By Tim Kendall One of the anthologist's greatest pleasures comes from discovering previously unknown pieces to jostle with the familiar classics. Editing The Poetry of the First World War, I knew that I should need to accommodate 'Dulce et Decorum Est', 'The Soldier', and 'For the Fallen'. Whatever their qualities, these have become so inextricably part of our understanding that to omit them would be perverse.

Posted on October 14, 2013

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