Jessie Pope's War Poems


Read by Alan Mapstone

Jessie Pope published these poems during the early months of the First World War. They were very popular at the time and the author received many letters of support and gratitude including some from men serving at the Front. The poems illustrate the patriotic and optimistic (and perhaps rather naive) view of the war which many people had at the time.

Later soldier poets like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, who had personal experience of the conflict, painted a grimmer picture. Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” was initially dedicated to Pope ("to a certain lady poetess") as a direct rebuttal of her view of the war.

(Summary by Alan Mapstone) (0 hr 49 min)

Chapters

The K.A. Boys 1:28 Read by Alan Mapstone
"No!" 1:38 Read by Alan Mapstone
Play the Game 1:40 Read by Alan Mapstone
A Royal Cracksman 1:45 Read by Alan Mapstone
Lights Out! 1:40 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Outpost 1:33 Read by Alan Mapstone
To a Taube 1:32 Read by Alan Mapstone
Ware Wire! 1:49 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Nut 1:54 Read by Alan Mapstone
De Wet 1:19 Read by Alan Mapstone
An Over-lord 1:28 Read by Alan Mapstone
Socks 1:27 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Zeppelin Armada 2:16 Read by Alan Mapstone
Comrades in Arm-lets 1:54 Read by Alan Mapstone
A Cossack Charge 1:15 Read by Alan Mapstone
The War Budget 1:23 Read by Alan Mapstone
Captive Conquerors 2:01 Read by Alan Mapstone
Captain von Muller 1:05 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Two Goliaths 1:51 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Blackest Lie 1:30 Read by Alan Mapstone
A Sing-Song 1:45 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Longest Odds 2:14 Read by Alan Mapstone
A Dumb Appeal 2:19 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Call 1:21 Read by Alan Mapstone
Little and Good 1:48 Read by Alan Mapstone
Marching to Germany 2:40 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Silent Camp 1:30 Read by Alan Mapstone
Loot 1:46 Read by Alan Mapstone
"Bobs" 1:24 Read by Alan Mapstone