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Special Collection

World War Poetry Showcase

The Poetry Archive’s World War Poetry Showcase is based on the collection put together for our national poetry recitation competition, Poetry by Heart, to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Of course, there are plenty of anthologies…

Poet

Charlotte Smith

B. 1749 D. 1806

2 poems available

Ah! why has happiness no second spring? Charlotte Smith

Poet

Alice Oswald

B. 1966

2 poems available

Alice Oswald throws the windows of the imagination open; she places a fingertip on the pulse of tradition, and proves it is still very much alive - The Times

Poet

Douglas Dunn

B. 1942

4 poems available

Among the finest of our poets. - Melvyn Bragg

Poet

Andrew Motion

B. 1952

10 poems available

My poems are the product of a relationship between a side of my mind which is conscious, alert, educated and manipulative, and a side which is as murky as a primaeval swamp. - Andrew Motion