'When There Are So Many We Shall Have to Mourn”
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‘When there are so many we shall have to mourn’: Poetry and Memory in the Second World War Sebastian Owen PhD University of York English and Related Literature July 2015 Abstract In this thesis, I consider the representation of memory and mourning in the work of a number of poets, written during, or in the years immediately before and after, the Second World War. I consider the notion of memory in relation to the First World War and the early part of the twentieth century, observing the ways poets use existing literary models of mourning, remembrance and commemoration to write about the Second World War. My introduction presents the theoretical and conceptual foundations of the thesis. In Chapter 2, I examine the influence and impact of the work of Freud on Auden and H.D., arguing that mourning Freud’s death in their work is a way to write about the war. Likewise, Chapter 3 looks at the impact of an influential individual, examining the ‘Rilke craze’ of the late thirties and early forties in relation to the war poetry of Auden, Keith Douglas, Hamish Henderson, Sidney Keyes and Alun Lewis, showing how Rilke’s work opened up new possibilities for writing about death. Chapter 4 is dedicated to a study of Hamish Henderson’s long poem Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica and the multitude of voices and fragments which it draws upon. The final chapter considers ekphrastic poetry about war memorials, looking at works by Auden, Henderson, Douglas, Jarmain, Sassoon, and Lewis. I argue throughout that poets seek a precedent for the trauma and upheaval of the Second World War by turning or returning to the literature of other conflicts and ruptures in a multidirectional and palimpsestic attempt to make sense of the present and to represent it in poetry. The conclusion follows this idea into the post-war years and up to the present moment, by showing how the work of Keith Douglas has become a touchstone for more recent writers of conflict. 2 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Figures.............................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... 5 Author’s Declaration ....................................................................................................... 6 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 7 Staying in History ..................................................................................................... 14 Palimpsests and Multidirectional Memory .................................................................. 18 The Anticipation of Memory...................................................................................... 23 From Anxiety to Memory and Mourning .................................................................... 29 2. Freud’s Corpus ...................................................................................................... 32 ‘An important Jew who died in exile.’ ........................................................................ 35 ‘A Roman Centurion before the gate at Pompeii’......................................................... 47 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 56 3. The Rilke Connection ............................................................................................ 58 Rilke in Wartime....................................................................................................... 61 Rilke in Egypt........................................................................................................... 65 i. Henderson ..................................................................................................... 66 ii. Douglas ......................................................................................................... 74 ‘Who, if I cried out, would hear me?’ ......................................................................... 81 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 91 4. Hamish Henderson, ‘Remembrancer’...................................................................... 93 Ob Littera................................................................................................................. 98 Highland Jebel ........................................................................................................ 106 Eliot and Ezekiel: from Pastoral to Palimpsest .......................................................... 112 Conclusion: ‘Bid farewell to the city’ ....................................................................... 118 5. In Stone and in Ceremony .................................................................................... 121 War Memorial Ekphrasis ......................................................................................... 123 The First World War Memorial in the Second World War ......................................... 130 ‘Beneath this White Cross’: Henderson, Douglas and Jarmain.................................... 137 Alun Lewis: ‘To Edward Thomas’ ........................................................................... 146 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 155 6. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 157 After Keith Douglas ................................................................................................ 164 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................... 173 3 Table of Figures Figure 1. Map showing Hamish Henderson's locations around Cairo in 1942 in relation to Saqqara. ..................................................................................................................................... 73 Figure 2. Map showing locations on the North African coast mentioned by Henderson in Elegies. .................................................................................................................................... 114 Figure 3. Ninian Comper, The Merton College War Memorial. 1922. Fitzjames Arch, Merton College, Oxford. (Photographed by the author). .............................................................. 131 Figure 4. Ernest Brooks. 22nd August, 1917. Taken during the Third Battle of Ypres. Imperial War Museum, London. ................................................................................................ 139 Figure 5. Leeds, University of Leeds, Brotherton Library Special Collections, MS 20c Douglas/1/Box C/N................................................................................................................... 142 Figure 6. The Edward Thomas memorial stone near Steep, erected in 1935, with inset detail. ........ 150 4 Acknowledgements This thesis was supported by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and was hosted by the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York. Additional funding for research trips, conferences and events has been gratefully received from the AHRC Research Training Support Grant, the Centre for Modern Studies at York, with thanks to Professor Jason Edwards for his support and encouragement, the F.R. Leavis Fund and Graduate Research Support Fund in the English Department at York, with thanks to Professors Bill Sherman and Jon Mee respectively. Research for this thesis was conducted at a number of institutions. Special Collections at the University of Edinburgh Library generously gave me access to the Hamish Henderson archive, and I’d like to thank Dr Graeme Eddie for his assistance with the material. The Keith Douglas papers at the British Library and Special Collections at the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds have been instrumental in the conception and completion of this project. Professor Desmond Graham very kindly read and commented on my early work on Douglas and that conversation has been stimulating and encouraging. Peter Kerry also helpfully drew my attention to previous work on Douglas and Rilke that was relevant to my approach. I’m indebted to the many colleagues, mentors and readers who have contributed to the development of my work over the years. Dr Zoe Norridge was inspirational at a very important time for the genesis of the project and her energy and enthusiasm got it off the ground. Professor Matt Campbell and Dr Ziad Elmarsafy have been constructive and generous readers along the way, and they have encouraged me to be a better reader and writer, and a more ambitious thinker. Professor Judith Buchanan has been a superb mentor. Merle Perschmann helped clarify some translations for me, Marie was an astute and generous reader, and multidirectional conversations with Huw Halstead have had a huge impact on some of the key ideas behind this work. There are too many people to name who have supported me along the way in some small or large way. Among those are the friends old and new who always inspire and to whom love and gratitude are due: Cat, Tim and Bekah, Ahmed, Rob and Anthony, Hanieh, Mariann and Andreas. Zahra always reminded me to enjoy the journey. Most