View metadata,citationandsimilarpapersatcore.ac.uk enabling himto leave thepastbehindandmoveto Majorca. 183). To Graves’s outto relief, bea commercial thebookturned success, 1996:180, murders (Seymour hauntings, androyalty” famous friends, cater to to read thesensationalisttastes ofthepublicwho“wanted about: have prosecution. endedinlegal He dictated itinhaste, intending itto lished in1957, pub- tohimself admitsintheprologue therevised versionofthebook, serious off serious whichinsome cases caused and institutionsto whichheusedto belong, did portrayal notonlyofGraves himselfbutalso ofhisfamily, friends Graves off betweenpupils an sexual exploits School,known for itsdisregard atCharterhouse periences oflearning, Th upbringing. an parents andhisstrict ¹ GravesRobert publishedhiswarmemoir den’s waspreceded1931: 13).It EdmundBlun- bythememoirsofhisfriends: “a formal good-bye to you andto you andto you andto allthat[…]”(Graves on thewave oftheconfessional callingit period, boomoftheinter-war work Graves 2011. His freedom cost himdearly, however; Memoirs ofa Fox-Hunting Man Undertones ofWarUndertones ers an extensive account of his friendship with Sassoon during account withSassoonduring ersanextensive ofhisfriendship ence. Th of Friendship Breaking as Its Point Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye (the Friendship of Graves Robert ebookopenswithGraves’s recollections ofhisVictori- “It was my bi Goodbye to AllThat and Siegfried Sassoon’s andSiegfried semi-autobiographical at wasa commercial endeavour thatcould and Siegfried Sassoon) d constant bullying. Subsequently, , both published in 1928. As Graves, bothpublishedin1928.As er leave-taking of England” enherecounts histraumatic ex- Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye KINGA LATAŁA : AMemoir provided byJagiellonianUniveristyRepository at at isa can- in1929, brought toyouby 1

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Kinga Latała and avid readers ofpoetry, which wasdeeplyrootedtheir friendship inliterature were –they bothpoets whenGravesliers, wastwentyandSa Th appears in Man a Fox-Hunting Gravesfriendship. isconspicuously absentfrom Sassoon’s friendship. Sassoon’s Graves’s trust. memoirwasthelaststraw for theirdeteriorating the Great War, disclosingconfi of Charles Hamilton andinfl of Charles Sorley through theiradmiration theirmutualencouragement andcritique, etry accidental meetingshapedthecreation andreception warpo- ofBritish whom Sassoonhadbeenintroduced by EdmundGosseandwhomGraves their fi tooughtn’t publishyet” (Sassoon1983: 21). bad,violent and repulsive. A fewvery fullofpromise andreal beauty. He Graves poemsto “Robert read: lentmehismanuscript some in hisdiary: (Gravessoon changehisstyle” 2011: 182).On2December Sassoonnoted read Sassoon’s Graves idealisticverses, pronounced would hisverdict: “he him for years to 1996: 47).Attheendof1915,having come (Seymour his battalionwassacrifi to themeetingwithSassoon hisfaithinthewarwasshatteredprior when ably younger than Sassoon,wasa more soldier. experienced Several weeks oftherealism ofGraves’swas critical poetry. Graves, consider- although complex, byhismartyr on warpoetry. stillidealisticanddriven Sassoon, ing soldiers.Graves reminisces aboutth fi fellow book enthusiast. Sassoon.”fried outsider, a sociable As Graves decidedto getto knowhis was book hehadseeninFrance It sofar, fromandBlake. hisownKeats apart All Th gure asa satirical ofSassoon,nowrecognised poetanda voice ofthesuff etwomenmetinFrance in1915asoffi Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye Th Graves’s account oftheirfi eir friendship came about at the right moment. Th moment. cameaboutattheright eirfriendship at Th e Essays of Lionel Johnson ofLionel eEssays rst steps in the literary worldunder thewingofEdwardrst steps Marsh,to intheliterary , Graves recounts howhisattention wasdrawn to thefi Memoirs of an Infantry Offi Memoirs ofanInfantry at , thelastchapters thewar, ofwhichconcern buthe wasthefi ced in a diversionary advance that wasto haunt ced ina diversionary rst conversations casts a new light onthe light rst conversations castsa new information andthusbetrayingdential rst narrative chronicling rstnarrative theirwar-time , inscribed with the peculiar name“Sieg- withthepeculiar , inscribed uence on Wilfred Owen. In uence onWilfred Owen. created a bond betweenthem.Th created a bond cer ssoon twenty-nine. From the start, From thestart, ssoon twenty-nine. e initial clash between their views clashbetweentheirviews e initial , Sassoon’s 1930novel. cers intheRoyal Welch Fusi- ey were both making were ey bothmaking Two Fusiliers Memoirs of rst quality Goodbye to Goodbye eir er- scripts, pretending werescripts, they 1996:49). recipes punch(Seymour for rum their stimulatingconversations aboutliterature manu- andexchanging anddiversionin comfort sought andthatthey er ashisclosestfriends” remarks that“David Th hisnickname“MadJack.” earning to Germans, kill Graves’s biographer escapades andangered thathewentondaring himto suchanextent hurt Tommy’sthat itwasSassoonwhoexperienced deathmore profoundly; it than any other, himfeel However, making emptyandlost. hegoesonto say was a blow to them.Graves states thatTh Tommy-naturedness andgentleness.When inMarch waskilled 1916, it their muse.Graves andSassoonwere byTh bothcharmed werely they three offi were they inseparable; thetraining, outward-the previous During spring. strengthened bond, builtontheaffi strengthened after Tommy’sland, Sassoondraws ontheirgrief their deathto highlight tion notonlyto but alsoto kill write. thathisdeathwasaninspira- (Sassoon 2002:36),acknowledging song” touched my lipsto thatdying, Meeting,” where hecallshima “youth, summons Tommy’s in“Enemies,” ghost “At Daybreak” andin“Th er. Sassoon’s poeticresponse to Tommy’s deathisalsomore personal.He ist Graves hadfi (Sassoon 1983:45).Tommy’s deathtransformed Sassoonfrom theideal- hiswhite whimsicalface twisted andgrieving” “with of theirfriend, He isa silent mourner, standingbesideSassoonovertheshrouded body telling illustrates Graves’s attempt atdetaching himselffrom hispain. vid displays considerable courage anddieswithhonour. Th defeats hisopponentbutDa- thegiant UnlikeintheBible, or Goliath. Graves Tommy links David withtheBiblical facingthePhilistinewarri- Th met through GeorgeMallory. Sassoo his fi David Th “Tommy” wastheirshared warexperience. ship andtheirpoetry by Graves. However, for the bondthatwouldprove theirfriend- crucial as homosexuals–a label embraced later andrejected bySassoon further ofthemselves whatismore,had few boththought genuinefriends; they hadincommon:only thingthey bothhad e Daff Th In “A Home,” Letter addressed to Graves, whowasonleave inEng- In December 1915thetwopoetswere sentto divisionaltraining with eir grief found expression intheirpoems.In“Goliath andDavid,” eirgrief rst volume, odil Murderer rst meta few monthsbefore into a single-minded aveng- Over the Brazier Over omas, withwhomSassoonhadbeento omas, offi cer friends butinwardlycer friends were they twopoetsand and a few private volumes; Graves private waspreparing and a few omas’s deathboundSassoonandGraves togeth- , for publication. Literature wasnotthe nity of mindsandshared experience: n hadalready publishedthesatire omas’s deathaff felt isolated atschoolandhad ected himmore omas’s good- is Biblical re- isBiblical cer training e Last

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Kinga Latała Cross. for whichhewasawarded lance-corporal, a Military save a wounded hislife onanotheroccasionand proceeded herisked to to read poetry; trench captured once underfi hesingle-handedly a German of valour: account ofMadJack’s He exploits. presents a second-hand feats nary into poetry.ians, motivated eachotherto transfer soaliento thecivil- theirexperiences, off 1986: 358);they soon, however, hadgenerally “fou offi (named David Cromlech inthebook)wasgenerally dislikedbyother emotions into poetry enabledthemto fi emotions into poetry of letter-poems isrefl (Graves write!” 1917:32).Th we’ll And God!whatpoetry “[…] doingwild,tremendous things/Infree adventure, questand fi Wood,” inwhichheenvisions themagnifi From Mametz later to publishedas“Letter S.S. Sassoon a letter-poem, poetry. andwriting their visitsto landmarks Graves historical sent ward found they poets, to refuge future. inplanning theirpost-war As tunately, asSassoonpointsoutin realised hecould seekunderstandingonlyamonghiscomrades. Unfor- ofthesoldiers.Graves hadnograsp oftheexperiences that thecivilians Hisvisithomemadeitobvious splendour ofhostingtheirsoldier-son. allowinghisparents tohis fatherto baskinthe church ina bath-chair, Hecoming homedidnotlifthisspirits. hadto donhisuniform andpush Hebitterness. admitsthathehadbeencloseto a nervous breakdown but cers, owing to his arrogance, absent-mindedness owingtocers, hisarrogance, anduntidiness.Sas- In themidstofSommeoff Having to returned France, Graves aboutSassoon’s learnt extraordi- Soldier David dressed ingreen […].(38) Now he’s here I’veseen again; couldn’t dowithouthim. they Till abouthim whothought thegods, By One whoseyellow headwaskissed We’ve beensadbecausewemissed are few. andfriends Time’s too short We’ve becauseweknew beenglad winter weather. In thestarving You andI have walkedtogether In Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye at ered eachotherstimulationfor theirintellect and channelling their ective oftheirpoeticinstinct; , Graves recalls hisleave of1916with inthespring ensive, Graves andSassoonlookedfor- nd himanidealcompanion” (Sassoon Memoirs of an Infantry Offi Memoirs ofanInfantry nd anunderstanding audience. cent timesawaiting them: eir exchange cer , Graves ght, / re re Believing his friend to be dead, Sassoon wrote in his diary: to bedead,Sassoonwrote hisfriend Believing inhisdiary: whohadbeentold thatGraves wasbeyond bya colonel hope. reported remaining unconsciousing-station, for more thana day. His deathwas Graves Heavily hadbeenkilled. for wounded,hewasleft dead ata dress- less poetic. Graves’s isindeedmore account matter-of-fact of theirfriendship and woulddismisssuchsentiments. the battle,concluding thathisfriend ders ifhismindwasintouch withGraves’s whenhewasfi tality, reminded himofthechocolate hadshared. they Sassoonwon- ofsentimen- ofsilverfoil, which,ina surge found instead wasa scrap butGraves he vigil back to thespotoftheirnocturnal wasgone.What Sassoonhurried Inthemorning would everseeeachotheragain. they their protective layer ofdaydream. Th Hein thedarkness. admitsthatthereality threatened to break through resembling bysleepingsoldiers, surrounded corpses ing happiertimes, fanciful dreams. Sassoonrecalls thestrangeness felt they whileenvision- oftheSommeinto their escapingfrom thecarnage their imagination 1996:111–112). (Seymour – Graves wrote to him,rejecting theirbond of theshared warexperience “Ionlyknowaboutyou bylegend” andbuilditanew; time friendship Offi oirs ofanInfantry toshared thepublicationof years prior atthetime.In1922,eight future thatGraves tant thatSassoonstresses hishopesfor a post-war would come after it”–refl seemed to belonglessto my thanto thefreedom warexperience which together. freedom; timewouldprove thatitwasthewarbrought themclosest bond. Th Graves’s wastheirprimary poemvoices thatpoetry theirmutualbelief ² caped into daydreaming aboutthefuture. “[F]ormeDavid pense andapprehension; es- faced withthepossibilityofdeath,they ing from Graves’s memoir. Sassoonestablishesanatmosphere ofsus- Sassoon recounts theSommeoff theirmeetingduring Not to beconfused withDavid Th Sassoon’s that premonition on21Julyhelearnt proved nearlytrue: in In July1916,however, meeting, thetwopoetsrelished theirbrief Introducing Graves’s in alter ego a Fox-Hunting Man ey hopedtheendofhostilitieswouldentaila greater ey artistic . cer ects Sassoon (Sassoon 1986: 355). It isimpor-ects Sassoon(Sassoon1986:355).It , Graves askedhimto forget abouttheirwar- omas, who appears as Dick Tiltwood in whoappearsasDickTiltwood omas, ey parted at midnight, unsure if atmidnight, parted ey Memoirs of an Infantry Officer Memoirs ofanInfantry ensivethatismiss- 2 hadoften ghting in ghting Memoirs of Mem- ,

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Kinga Latała tial. In tial. takentoo soonbythefollypoet, ofwar, neverallowedto realise hisfullpoten- whom hesomuchadmired –hetoo wouldbeconsidered a promising young sumably share Hamilton thereputation ofCharles Sorley, his contemporary would share hispassion.Graves fi he wasbadlyshaken.Before thewar, for Sassoonyearned a poet who friend modelto hismen,but asa role towas expected remain calmandto serve “His face –whatwouldithave become?” (Sassoon1945:63).Had Graves anafterlife,comprehension, where could imagining possiblybe: hisfriend the poem,Sassoonaddresses Graves, whomhebelievedto bebeyond human taph “To HisDeadBody,” which,ironically, Graves later helpedto revise. In Sassoon’s poeticresponse to thepresumed wastheepi- deathofhisfriend thelossoftheirfuture,mourned aware soongetkilled. thathetoo might 5 4 ³ George“Peter” Johnstone (Dickin Graves from Mametz Wood” refers to in“Letter S.S. to great hillsofCaucasus” “the From “Th long friend to workwith.SoI gomylong friend way (Sassoon1983:98) alone again. hecould neverhavepoet; become a dull one.InhimI thought I had found a life- plays blown!” to darkness are Andmy jointhemsoon.“Oh together, my songsneversung, andperhapsI’ll Wood. AndI’vegotto goonasifthere were nothingwrong. SoheandTommy diedofwoundsyesterday,And nowI’veheard thatRobert inanattackonHigh Had Graves reallyoftheSomme,nowhewouldpre- inthe Battle beenkilled Dear, fatherGodwholityour red-faced mind.(Sassoon2002:20) confi saintless, Slow-rising, lonely,Up fi glimmering Safe quitofwars, I speedyou onyour way ofhowyou fare, meno report Can bring Yet, my though dreams thatthrong stair thedarkened Th And someonecalledPeter gaiety andhope.Soallourtravels greasy to great, Caucasus” “the a poem fullofhisbestqualitiessweetness andsincerity, fullofheart-breaking I was Andonlytwodays ago true. cruelly copying hislastpoeminto my notebook, is entry reveals Sassoon’s struggle to contain his grief. As anoffi reveals As to Sassoon’s contain hisgrief. isentry struggle School, withwhom hewasinloveatthetime. (Graves 1917:32). Siegfried’s Journey, 1916–1920 Siegfried’s e Shadow ofDeath”(Graves eShadow 1916:21). elds to fi 3 –hisownpoorwords lastsummer, written andnowso 5 willbeassadI am. have might beena great Robert dent and kind – dent andkind Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye nd new day,nd new lled thevoid inhislife andinJuly1916he , Sassoon writes about Wilfred Owen: aboutWilfred, Sassoonwrites Owen: at ) –Graves’s from Charterhouse friend 4 are quelled. cer, he embodied thecommon speculationsaboutthefuture ofthosewhodiedyoung. hispresumed deathandlivingto ofninety, theage surviving him. By Graves thesamespeculationcould bevoiced about oftwenty-one, died attheage 6 “I’mleavingmade himsay: thisplace. It’s (242). worsethanFrance” mother conducting a séance, ofherdeadson,which summoningtheghost Gravesintact. disturbedbyhisfriend’s could notsleepatnight, brother intheDardanelles waskilled andhismother kepthisroom anonymous ofcourse, Sassoon. Graves butheis, thathisfriend’s writes (241).Th inKent friend” First Battalion paragraph Graves hisvisitto describes whileGravesand music, withchildren, ofwhomhewasfond. Inthenext peace diff imagined that they off worked ontheirpoems, they like nooneelse.Th could understandeachother they soldiersandpoets, As their friendship. calls for peace andcompared theirowninvolvement to thatofthesoldiers. the whodemanded theirblood,ridiculed by theattitudeofcivilians my (Graves parents allbutimpossible” 2011:237).Th talkeda foreigncivilians […]I found language conversation serious with hindered theircommunicationwithotherpeople.Graves remarks: “Th Th went. they Th civilians. together, focusing betwe onthegulf 1986: 372).Inhisownmemoir, Graves recounts theleave spent they he always to do thingsdiff manages fondly reminisces olddevil[…] thenews: “Silly abouthisrelief athearing Sassoon wasfi account oftrench to fever). bedeadfor believinghisfriend After twoweeks, GravesBoth were andSassoon senthometo recuperate on (Sassoon It wasinfacta real séance. It Suchanoccurrence spiritual wasby nomeansuncommon: Th eir shared experiences intheface eirshared ofsuchignorance experiences strengthened popular in Britain in the19 popular inBritain whichhadfi movement, ofthespiritualist World a revival War I sparked (Holloway 2006:182–183). suchséances Conan Doyle–attempted oftheirlovedonesduring to summonthespirits possible to –mostnotablyincludingSirArthur contact thedead,peoplein mourning ere wasnoescapingthewar–itfollowed them wherever ey found themselves amidst the raging propaganda which found propaganda ey themselvesamidsttheraging nally informed ofhis“resurrection.” Sassoon Inhisbook, ey wentto Graves’s ey inHarlech, familycottage where th The New Wordsworth andColeridge century. Attracted thatitwas bytheclaimofspiritualism erently: Sassoonassociatederently: itwithnature ering eachotheradvice. Gravesering recalls erently (Sassoon from otherpeople” en the returned soldiersandthe en thereturned the houseof“a recently wounded is friend remains isfriend conspicuously ey were ey disturbed rstbecome e 6

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Kinga Latała reverence, were andtheirminordisagreements yet to escalate. each other. Th their mutualunderstandingbutalsobecauseoffrankness towards ing theaspectsoftheiraffi byGravester. Fusiliers” isa tribute “Two encompass- to theirfriendship, was translated into charac- theirpoetry, emphasisingitsdeeplyliterary predecessors. and Coleridge’s footsteps, after liketheirRomantic all,quarrelling (ibid.).Ironically,the twosetsofpoems” they and wetook somepainsoverco-ordinatingold Sassoon’s sucha dear mour 1996:56).Graves regretted thattheirproject fell through “because “enjoyedpher putsit, therole (Sey- ofplaying godfatherto theirtalents” tually, who,asGraves’s byRobbieRoss, theplanwascutshort biogra- Wordsworth bypublishinga joint andColeridge volume ofpoems.Even- (ibid.). called “shameless madness” whichGraves inthehome-service, toreturn France instead ofserving were they to determined ised atthebasetimeoffood shortages, was to begood offi notto andagreed protest thewar, against egy believingthattheirduty went to thebattalionbaseatLitherland,where discussedtheirstrat- they In thefollowing paragraph, Graves mentions Sassoonbyname.Th again hold administrative boastingoftheirsacrifi positions, the time,where who have itisthemiddle-aged to goto warandthe young tration. Inhismemoir, he quotes a short piece whichhewrote satirical at ible inSassoon’s butGraves war poems, satirical shared hisfriend’s frus- Such a sacrifi towards theenemy, into thatofaggression. thewar ofattrition turning Th tobye All Th In deadmen,breath. (Graves 1917: 7) inDeath, Beauty Death: wefacedhim,andfoundBy blossoming from mud, friendship, By we,bythered bondofblood, As methetwosocloselybound Show At the time, the conduct of war weighed heavilyAt thetime,conduct ofwarweighed ontheirminds.In Although they didnotbecome they actu Although to become thenew theirleave wasduring madea plan thatthey It eir friendship was possibly at its peak at that time – not only owing to was possiblyatitspeakthattime–notonlyowingto eirfriendship at ce ofyouth angered bothpoets.Th ey treated each other as equals, with neither reserve nor treated ey withneitherreserve eachotherasequals, , Graves pointsoutthattheWar Offi cers to their men. Surprised bya lavishcers dinnerorgan- to theirmen.Surprised nity: nity: al collaborators, theirfriendship eir bitterness ismore eirbitterness vis- would ce fuelledthehatred follow Wordsworth ces. ces. Good- ey ic ofthetwo. In hecomes across aslessimpulsiveandmoretion inthebook, pragmat- (Graves Graves 2011:287).Although isfrank abouthismentalcondi- bothmore consistentclaims thathe“was andlessheroic thanSiegfried” were they ofa likethough mindabouttheprolongation ofthewar, Graves asanintermediary. Even as thenarrator ofhisstory, inwhichheserved a coward byhiscomrades. onwhatsteps topondering taketo eff conjured lyingonthepavements Sassoonwasnow ofLondon. upcorpses with thefate ofthesoldiersfor whomhefelt responsible thathismind and generalscians sendingtheyouth to slaughter. Sopreoccupied washe mentalstate ofpoliti- atthetime,beinghaunted bythethought a bad fi throat, 1996:xiv). (Seymour to determination makethemostofhistalent bya newly-formed driven of himfi was. Graves wasprepared to life diebuttheprospect ahead ofa wasted to live,whichillustratesdie butalsoabouthislonging howconfl to abouthislonging hewrites Inhisdiaries, largelyspiritual. experience, was more idealisticandthathewanted thewarto beanimpressive neurasthenia and sent to Craiglockhart Warneurasthenia andsentto Craiglockhart Hospital. into tears three histestimony. timesduring with Sassoonwasdiagnosed Graves’s were innobetter state thanhisfriend’s nerves andheburst from a mentalcollapse, resulting inFrance. from hiscourageous service doctors, whomheendeavoured to convince thatSassoon wassuff for Sassoon.Graves to managed persuadeSassoonto appearbefore the himfi claring spite ofhisownbadcondition, Graves coerced themedical board into de- Graves andstop Sassoonfrom decided to sacrifi intervene for byconcern Driven hisfriend, andimprisoned. be court-martialled ly unfi actions. He wasconvinced thatSassoonwasbothmentallyandphysical- Sassoon’s athispacifi fate and angry about friend’s hewasworried courage withhisarguments, andagreed political ends.Graves’s reaction headmired wasimmediate: although his defi laration At thispointinhismemoir, Graves shiftshisfocus to Sassoon,acting In July1917Graves received a newspaper cutting with Sassoon wassentto France woundedinthe again, butsoonreturned ed military authority, ed military protesting sacrifi against t to beartheconsequences ofhisprotest, presumably, thatis, to , in which Sassoon as the soldiers’ self-proclaimed, inwhichSassoonasthesoldiers’ representative lled him with regret. After hismiraculouslled himwithregret.After “resurrection,” hewas ghting untilhecollapsed. Gravesghting wasin thathisfriend reports t so that he could pull strings andorganisea medicalt sothathecould pullstrings board Memoirs of an Infantry Offi Memoirs ofanInfantry ectivelyprotest andnotbedeemed st friends whohadinfl st friends cer , Sassoonadmitsthathe cing thetroops for cing himself. In A Soldier’s Dec-A Soldier’s uenced his uenced icted he ering ering

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Kinga Latała other. InOctober Graves wrote to EdmundGosse: on 4November 1918,onlyoneweekbefore thearmistice. incombat ashewaskilled thatofhis friends, poet equalorevensurpass didnotliveto seehisreputation 1985:306).Owen asa warpoet” (Owen as whichI did I am I am notenter it. a poet’s heldpeerbytheGeorgians; 31 December 1917 hewrote “Igooutofthisyear to a Poet hismother: […] admiration patronising changedhismind.On somewhat buthequickly (70).Initially, peak” on thekneesofthatstubborn found Owen Graves’s you could attainParnassusto innotimewhileI’mstillstruggling writing, pressed with“Disabled,” Graves wrote seriously “ifyou to turned Owen: Owen’s heoff poems, 1996:69).Having talent(Seymour read some of had anextraordinary (Sassoon1945:59). theexceptionalrecognising qualityofhispoeticgift” Poemsand Other volume, it alsostimulated himwhenheworkedonhisnext not onlywasOwen’s companionship atthatdiffi comforting Moreover, heaffi a war poethadalready before beenvisibleinthepoemswritten met. they Journey, 1916–1920 Siegfried’s relationship theirworking simplifying in sucha way. in DiscussingOwen mentor-disciple literature, pairsinBritish Sassoonhimselfobjected to Youth.” are they nowwidelyregarded Although asoneofthemostfamous it into poetry, mostnoticeably helpinghimrevise “Anthem for Doomed poetry, him to encouraging draw translating more onhiswarexperience, volume, esteem, greatlyhimself andheldSassooninhigh impressed withhisfi offi wasa twenty-four-year-old Atthetime,Owen Sassoon andWilfred Owen. Moreover,writing. Graves wasindirectly responsible for themeetingof ofconfl the theory to Sassoonandalsoinfl a “father-confessor” W.H.R. whobecame a renowned andanthropologist, Rivers, psychiatrist did notanticipate atthetime.AtCr cer sent to Craiglockhart followingcer a mental sentto Craiglockhart breakdown. He wasa poet By the end of 1917 Graves and Sassoon began drifting apart from theendof1917Graves each By apart drifting andSassoonbegan Graves’sAs itwasGraves argues, biographer whorealised fi Graves’s hadfar-reaching consequences intervention thathesurely by keepingupmy morale brother 1996:70–71) as far asI can. soldiers’ (Seymour stop I don’t. itatwhatever cost. I think domore thatthey’ll good so hateful thatI’ll poemswhichwillmakepeople fi He heis best employed bywriting thinks Th e Old Huntsman and Other Poems Huntsman andOther eOld rms thathetoo benefi rms . However, a bit alsoadmitsthathe“was slowin Sassoon ict and his belief in the White Goddess, visibleinhis Goddess, intheWhite ict andhisbelief ered Owen adviceered Greatly andencouragement. Owen im- , Sassoonstresses thatOwen’s potential as aiglockhart, Sassoonwasa patient of aiglockhart, tted from their literary friendship: tted friendship: from theirliterary . Sassooninfl uenced Graves’s interest in uenced uenced Owen’s Counter-Attack Counter-Attack rst that Owen rst thatOwen cult time but nd the war nd thewar rst rst soon 1919 turbed andexhausted hewas;“O Jesu makeitcease,” heentreats (Sas- men. Th the factthatwarhasendedfor himandhecannolonger care for his Inthepoem,Sassoonconfronts himselfincombat. who distinguished itoff as a marketing trick; ing Sassoon’s mentalinstability. Graves included itin sent his“dear a letter-poem, Roberto” notintended for publication,reveal- 2013:178). (Egremont inlove” “IwishI was Morrell: Ottoline saying Lady toment, hisfriend lonely future; hebrooded after onhislonelinessagain Graves’s engage- ding. ofGraves’s In1916thenews deathhadmadehim despairoverhis Sassoonwassceptical anddidnotattendtheir friendship, Graves’s wed- In spite ofGraves’s attempts to reassure Sassoonabout hisinvolvement in after all,withoneofthemmarried. selves in1916wouldcome true, seemed unlikelythatthefuture Graves andSassoonenvisioned for them- plished poetandhave children, withoutthethreat It of gettingkilled. life, inwhich hehopedto become anaccom- ofa new bolic beginning wasa sym- sure to hewouldnotbereturning France andhismarriage thattimeGravesof whomSassoonwouldgrow jealous.By hadbeen death, likeGraves before him. to escaped hismen.InJuly1917hegotshotintheheadandnarrowly best course ofactionwouldbenotto pursuehisprotest butto return Sassoon, infl him; itbecameclearthathewasunfi smellsandsoundsbrought to backtraumatic memories how ordinary for Graves neurasthenia, Inhismemoir, wasshell-shocked. herecalls Graves objected to found hehadnotbeentreated hisnewly tone. Although intended to shatter thewidespreadinto glorifi poetry ic idealism.Now thatSassoonhadbeenchannellinghiswarexperience 7 the title published fi including thispersonalmissiveinhismemoirto increase itssales–he also cation: among other things, hesubstitutedcation: amongotherthings, Sassoon’s signature original sideration for hisfriend’s reputation, heedited hispoembefore publi- Th Recuperating ina London withdeath,Sassoon hospitalafter hisbrush Nicholson, Nancy 1918Graves eighteen-year-old In January married wasonlytwoyears beforeIt thatGraves hisfriend’s criticised poet- e offi e disjointed mannerofhisself-examination illustrates edisjointed howdis- cial date ofthepublicationisinaccuratecial butI have decidedto retain it. A Suppressed Poem 7 ve hundred under copies ofthepoemwithoutauthorisation : 2).Graves’s betrayal ofSassoon’s than wentfurther trust uenced byhissessionswithDoct ered into aninsight themind ofa famous poet (Campbell 1994: 24). Apparently outofcon- (Campbell1994:24).Apparently t to to return France. Meanwhile, or Rivers, decidedthatthe or Rivers, Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye cation ofthewar, at

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Kinga Latała passage abouthismother (346–347).Th passage Graves’s publisher, demandingthat heremove hisletter-poem andthe tate theoff an aff ing to have beenmore collected and lucidthanhereally was(ibid.).Such savedself asthementallyunstableMadJack, bythenarrator, purport- of theaccusation ofcowardice towards andthe portrayal ofhim- Owen, ly objected to letter-poem, thepublicationofhisprivate themention Sassoonstrong- (ibid.).Furthermore, his motherconducting a séance hecould hardly believethatGravesrendition of theirstory; alludedto nant wasoften exhaustingto him.Sassoon wasenraged byhisfriend’s asSassoon’sunfortunate, relationship Hon. withthesickly StephenTen- aff private andprofi whocalledita “bombastic Blunden, cerns his friendship withSassoon. hisfriendship cerns and publishedhiscontroversial memoir, largelycon- whosesecond part for herconvalescence Graves andtheirmoveoutofEngland, wrote quickly of thewindow, sustainingsevere Inorder injuries. to raise to money pay jumpedout the situationunderGraves’s Laura roof cameto a head, wasinfatuated. When andwithwhomLaura to become Nancy’spartner whobecamehislover,cy, andGeoff Riding, Laura 1996:155–156). In1929Graves(Seymour waslivingwithhiswife Nan- hisfriend ofgoodmannersandreprimanded regarded thisasa breach of EdmundGosse,whomGraves Sassoon hadaskedto review hisbook. talked for twoyears following their However, thereality soonverifi – Graves wrote thewar(Moorcroft to Sassoonduring 2013:270). Wilson side ontheroll offameandstillyoung andmore orlessundamaged” “Th version revealed more thanSassoonwishedto disclose. eventhepurged (25).Nevertheless, innuendo “O pleasetakeme” Rivers andomitted thesexual “Dotty Captain”for hisnickname“Sassons” 8 Graves andNichols. Sassoon learnt about Sassoon learnt When ere are three inevitables: twoRoberts ront calledfor revenge; anno- notonlydidSassoonandBlunden Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye airs” (Egremont 2013:346).Th (Egremont airs” ending bookwithscathingremarks butSassoon alsowentto Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye at wasreleased, Graves andSassoonhadnot ed theirplansof a shared future. argument overGraves’sargument treatment atwaspractically theendoftheir at e timing of this discovery was etimingofthisdiscovery 8 fromEdmund hisclosefriend and a Siegfried rising sideby rising anda Siegfried Goodbye to Friendship t-seeking display t-seeking ofyour rey whowas Phipps, bye to All Th tobye All addresses their boneofcontention: ofhisconversion benefits response thespiritual andthen explains Graves reacted bysendingSassoona letter 2000:318).Sassoon’s (Roberts cy, thepress his conversion reported to RomanCatholicism,to which hind hisangeratfriend’s memoir. Inanotherbreach ofhispriva- (Seymour 1996:275).Th (Seymour to Graves renew itattheendof1930s eventhough friendship, didtry son GeorgeandGraves’s andtheirmeeting: sonWilliam, fi relationshipsgraphers remains ofthe oneofthemostfamousliterary oftwopoetsandautobio- thisturbulentfriendship itis, As its toll onit. relationships, before literary realitythe mosttragic thepost-war took inthe publicconsciousness asoneof immortalised ended atitspeak, Had wouldhave oneorboth ofthemreally theirfriendship beenkilled, inhislife. friendships ship butatthecost ofonethemostimportant al andsensitivecharacter ofGraves’s reader- bookthatattracted a wide wastheperson- It into thenaturean insight ofthememoirasa genre. Th Loves andLives ofthe War Poets (1997),aswelltherecentadaptation docudrama Regeneration Owen Wilfred Donald’s play rst halfofthe20 epublicationof I wasnotatallbothered bythere-issue of Unexpectedly, itwas1957–theyear whentherevised versionof likeable.”master, attimesbutvery 2013:478) (Egremont irritating even ifthere sameclumsy, wasstill“the opinionated half-schoolboy, half-school- […] made(inSassoon’s words) meltaway, “all theyears andmisunderstandings” me wasentirely generous (318–319) –beyond my deserts. withwriting andworry tal fatigue the reason for my beingsoupsetin1929wasthatI was ina great state ofmen- present generation ofwhat1914–18wasfor thosewhoendured I think it. at trilogy (publishedbetween 1991and1995)itsscreen trilogy (publishedin1982),andmore inPat extensively Barker’s was released Not About Heroes:Not About Th Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye th century. was featured It briefl ey fi

nally metin1954,accompanied bySassoon’s – thatwitnessedSassoonoffi (2016). Th e Infantry Offi eInfantry e Friendship of Siegfried Sassoon and Sassoon ofSiegfried eFriendship at and the ensuing outrage give us andtheensuingoutrage give Goodbye cer , andhopeitwillremind the . All thatyou wrote. All about Mac-y inStephen Th e Pity of War: Th cially cially leave be- Conclusion Good- e

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Kinga Latała Roberts, John Stuart (2000). Sassoon, Siegfried (1919). Siegfried Sassoon, (1985). Wilfred Owen, Moorcro one of his most popular books. one ofhismostpopularbooks. towards hismemoirhashadlittleinfl anyone’s 1996:286).However, (Seymour feelings” hisdismissiveattitude phy inwhichthewarfi Sassoon, Siegfried (1983).Sassoon, Siegfried Seymour, Miranda (1996). Miranda Seymour, Sassoon, Siegfried (2002). (2002). Siegfried Sassoon, (1986).Sassoon, Siegfried Sassoon.” Siegfried Roberto’): (‘Dear Poem (1994). “A Patrick Suppressed Campbell, Sassoon, Siegfried (1945). Siegfried Sassoon, h h h Holloway, Julian (2006). “Enchanted Spaces: The Séance, A Séance, The Spaces: “Enchanted (2006). Julian Holloway, (2011). Robert Graves, (1931). Robert Graves, (1917). Robert Graves, (1916). Robert Graves, (2013). Max Egremont, ps://ia600206.us.archive.org/12/items/ov p://www.robertgraves.org/issues/37/3299_ar ps://ia902504.us.archive.org/21/items/fairiesfusiliers00gravuo Duckworth Overlook. Overlook. Duckworth On refl Faber. Faber. Faber. and Graves Robert on Focus 00gravuo pdf (access: 22 September 2016). September 22 (access: pdf Religion.” Religion.” Wilson, Jean (2013). ection, Graves called Annals of the Associa ofthe Annals .pdf (access: 29 September 2016). September 29 (access: .pdf Selected Le Over the Brazier the Over Good-Bye to All That to All Good-Bye Fairies and Fusiliers and Fairies Goodbye to All That to All Goodbye Siegfried Sassoon: ABiography Sassoon: Siegfried vol. 2 no. 2, 24 2, 2no. vol. Robert Graves: Life on the Edge the on Life Graves: Robert A Suppressed Poem A Suppressed The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston ofGeorge Memoirs Complete The Siegfried’s Journey, 1916 Journey, Siegfried’s Collected Poems, 1908 Poems, Collected Diaries, 1915 gured, but written withsmallconsideration gured, butwritten for Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Siegfried Sassoon:Siegfried Soldier, Poet, Lover, Friend on of American Geographers ers Goodbye to All Th to All Goodbye . John Bell (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Press. University Oxford Oxford: (ed.). Bell John . . London: The Poetry Bookshop. Bookshop. Poetry The . London: – – 1918 25. . London: William Heinemann. Heinemann. William . London: . London: Penguin Books. Books. Penguin . London: . London and Toronto: Jonathan Cape. Cape. Toronto: Jonathan and . London erbrazier00gravrich/overbrazier00gravrich. uence onthereaders, asitremains . The Unknown Press. Unknown . The . London: Richard Cohen Books. Books. Cohen Richard . London: . Rupert Hart-Davis (ed.). London: Faber Faber London: (ed.). Hart-Davis . Rupert – 1956 cle_24.pdf (access: 7 October 2016). 7October (access: cle_24.pdf – 20 . London: Picador. Picador. . London: . London: Faber and Faber. and Faber . London: . London: Faber and Faber. and Faber . London: at . Toronto: Doubleday. . Toronto: Doubleday. “a reckless autobiogra- ff vol. 96 no. 1, 182 1, 96 no. vol. ect, and Geographies of Geographies and ect, . London: Faber and and Faber . London: Bibliography /fairiesfusiliers- . London: . London: – 187.