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A Centenary War Poem for my father Bill Baine (1899-1968)

A CENTENARY WAR POEM
for Bill Baine, 1899-1968

‘What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.’
And so some lines to spike centenary prattle:
These words a sole survivor soldier’s son’s.

My father Bill, born in Victorian England:
The sixth of January, 1899.
His stock, loyal London. Proletarian doff-cap.
Aged seventeen, he went to join the line.

Not in a war to end all wars forever
Just in a ghastly slaughter at the Somme -
A pointless feud, a royal family squabble
Fought by their proxy poor with gun and bomb.

My father saved. Pyrexia, unknown origin.
Front line battalion: he lay sick in bed.
His comrades formed their line, then came the whistle
And then the news that every one was dead.

In later life a polished comic poet
No words to us expressed that awful fear
Although we knew such things were not forgotten.
He dreamed Sassoon: he wrote Belloc and Lear.

When I was ten he died, but I remember,
Although just once, he’d hinted at the truth.
He put down Henry King and Jabberwocky
And read me Owen’s ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’.

‘What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.’
And so some lines to spike Gove’s mindless prattle:
These words a sole survivor soldier’s son’s.

A plea to Michael Gove ►

Comments

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John F Keane

Sun 26th Jan 2014 18:05

A lot of these issues are very complex. Rather than the generals being incompetent, military technology at that time made attacking very difficult. The same was true of the American Civil War. Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg was very similar to the Somme, and for the same reasons. And at the end of the Civil War, both sides were fighting in trenches around Richmond, just like WW1. Unfortunately, Europeans did not learn the lessons of the Civil War on either side. They imagined WW1 was going to be Napoleonic. Many Civil War generals thought that too, until they learned better.

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 25th Jan 2014 17:30

"..the worst (government) I can remember, in terms of the brutal damage they've wreaked". Since this
poem is about conflict and its assessment, I suggest that a certain Tony Blair and his government would
win the "brutal damage" nod any day...no contest.
That "citizen's arrest" waiter had the right idea!

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Laura Taylor

Sat 25th Jan 2014 11:42

I reckon naming Gove actually places it even stronger, historically. It marks a time, and ascribes the ideology and the propagandist lexicon to a member of this particular government – the worst one I can remember, in terms of the brutal damage they’ve wreaked.

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attila the stockbroker

Fri 24th Jan 2014 13:17

Not offended in the slightest :) Looking forward to lots of gigs in the NW soon - that appears to be where everyone else here is from....

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Isobel

Fri 24th Jan 2014 12:46

Sorry if my suggestion offended you Attila. This is a poetry website where we often offer feedback - critical or otherwise to fellow poets.

There is a button for disabling comments - none that asks for positive feedback only though ;)

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M.C. Newberry

Fri 24th Jan 2014 12:21

Even Siegfried Sassoon generalised (no pun intended) in his own form of protest poetry.
<"Good morning, good morning", the general said...>
SS might have put a name but didn't. The effect
of the poem still resonates - in posterity...
suggesting a wider (and damning) responsibility among those with power over others.
But each to his own form of protest. That much
is understood.
Good luck.

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attila the stockbroker

Fri 24th Jan 2014 09:00

I write for now: I don't write for posterity. I've always thought that if you set out to write for posterity you'll end up writing for posteriority, ie talking out of your arse :)
Happy in the here and now, Attila

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Dave Bradley

Fri 24th Jan 2014 08:41

Tellingly well written. The understatement highlights just how horrific it was. When I was about 8 I remember listening to old Mr. Harris from down the road describing (with pleasure) running his machine gun along a row of Germans and seeing them all fall down. I was open-mouthed at the time. But now......even if you win a war like that, what have you done to the survivors on your own side? Left them with a nightmarish mix of traumatic memories and satisfaction at their own successful barbarism. What is happening in Syria right now?

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attila the stockbroker

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 23:00

Who was the Kaiser? Queen Victoria's grandson. A whole generation were butchered and damned because of one dysfunctional royal family. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/queen-victoria-and-the-crippled-kaiser/episode-guide

It's 'sole survivor soldier' because he was the sole survivor of that battalion. 'Sole surviving soldier' has a different, more general emphasis to me. It's funny to get suggestions for changing my poems - first time ever, after 34 years earning a living at it - good on you :)

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Ian Whiteley

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 22:16

but it is a today poem isn't it? 'And so some lines to spike centenary prattle' puts it in the here and now - the style is of the world war 1 poets - but the voice is of today - I think it is absolutely appropriate that a modern topic is the catalyst for the remembrance. But as you say - us poets.....

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Isobel

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 21:40

Well I could see what MC meant by omitting Gove and using politician instead. The reference to Gove makes it very much a 'today' poem, whereas if you are looking for something that stands the test of time, politician is better. It all depends upon what you are after, I suppose.

Another change I'd make would be

'These words a sole surviving soldier's son's'

Us poets, what are we like? Can't agree on anything and nit pick over a noun or an adjective LOL

I must admit to always having believed the 1st WW was down to German aggression - though I'm no history expert. It will always be remembered for its senseless slaughter of young men though - decisions made and stuck to with no heed to death toll.

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John F Keane

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 21:15

*A young Adolf Hitler was with the German army and his determination to avenge German defeat was a decisive factor in his own participation in yet another attempt by Germany to seek a dominant role in world affairs.*

Quite unlike Britain of course, which never invaded anywhere... ;-)

http://angloboer.com/crimes.htm

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Ian Whiteley

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 20:23

superb - tonally very similar to the 'I was there' authenticity of the original war poets. the final two lines NEED to remain as they are - not watered down as MC suggests - if we do not challenge individual's mindless prattle then we have learnt nothing at all.
I doff my hat to you sir!
Ian

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Starfish

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 20:17

I found this very moving - a wonderful tribute to your father - a poem for a poet.

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 19:25

I looked up the words attributed to Michael Gove
and his main point seems to be that it is too
easy to believe the revisionist views of that
horrendous conflict - the first real example of
impersonal industrial warfare whose generals on
both sides were completely untrained and experienced in such things, still trapped in an
era of cavalry charges. Like their subordinates
they had to adapt as best they could in a series of hideously costly examples of attrition.
But the fact was that the war was the fault of an expansionist Germany, intent on making itself
felt in invasive influence across much of the
western hemisphere. A young Adolf Hitler was
with the German army and his determination to avenge German defeat was a decisive factor in his own participation in yet another attempt by
Germany to seek a dominant role in world affairs. It is part of the mentality - set out
in the Prussian tome "On War" which gives a huge insight into the pervading mentality - e.g. what
can't be had by peaceful means is to be won
in war - with the two interchangeable where
necessary.
That this occurred twice within 25 years means it's hardly a slur on the country or its
people...merely the thinking made manifest.
My father's generation was of different stuff
and many went off to fight because they had an
idea of what Germany was up to and had a fierce
belief in themselves and their country. Many
were old pals regiments, fighting and dying
together - and inordinately proud of "The old Empire" and what Britain represented in their world.
There is a place fought for by the Devonshire Regiment, with grievous losses that was marked with the words: "The Devonshires held this trench. The Devonshires hold it still".
Very matter of fact - with pride before self-pity...as was their style. God bless them.
Lest we forget.

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Isobel

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 13:07

Agreed - on all points - a very fine poem. That senseless carnage should never be forgotten or allowed to be watered down by politician's prattle.

Very moving, as was the very last episode of Black Adder on the same subject, which Greg's home page article reminded me of. The only comedy ever to make me cry, in fact.

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 12:07

With a father who survived the Western and Italian Fronts (1917/1918) and a maternal uncle who was
killed in action with The Rifle Brigade in 1916,
these lines come as a jarring reminder of the
human cost during and after the slaughter...yet
with hope insofar that the subject lived on to
create opportunity in life for others. From
the carnage of conflict comes the continuance
of the human spirit to comfort us all.
As for the reference to Gove - in the wider
context of perpetuity, the poem probably deserves
to omit the personal reference and substitute a
more general term: e.g. "a politician's prattle"

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attila the stockbroker

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 11:55

Me on the syllabus?
Gove would have a heart attack!
Now there's an idea :)

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Julian (Admin)

Thu 23rd Jan 2014 11:50

Superbly crafted, very moving piece, and extremely important. Should be on the syllabus.

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Greg Freeman

Wed 22nd Jan 2014 23:08

As soon as I heard about Gove's comments on the first world war, I thought: "What would Owen and Sassoon say? Has he not studied any first world war poetry?" You make the point quietly, but these lines make you want to weep - "His comrades formed their line, then came the whistle /
And then the news that every one was dead." A fine poem, in a great and honourable tradition, Attila.

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