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Hospital Barge at Cerisy
by Wilfred Owen

English poet. Now considered as one of the finest English 'war poets', he remained relatively unknown until an edition of his poems was published in 1931 with a Memoir in by Edmund Blunden. Previously his poetry had been collected and published in 1920 by Owen's friend, the poet Siegfried Sassoon.

Most of his work was produced between the years 1915 and 1918 and detailed his horrific experiences in the trenches during World War I. 'The Collected Poems' were published in 1963 and were chosen by the composer Britten for his 'War Requiem'.

Other 'war poets' include Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon.


Hospital Barge at Cerisy
by Wilfred Owen

Budging the sluggard ripples of the Somme,
A barge round old Cerisy slowly slewed.
Softly her engines down the current screwed
And chuckled in her, with contented hum.

Till fairy tinklings struck their croonings dumb,
The waters rumpling at the stern subdued.
The lock-gate took her bulging amplitude
Gently from out the gurgling lock she swum.

One reading by that sunset raised his eyes
To watch her lessening westward quietly,
Till, as she neared the bend, her funnel screamed.

And that long lamentation made him wise
How unto Avalon, in agony,
Kings passed in the dark barge, which Merlin dreamed.


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