Follow this link to the Oxford University Press blog, where my short piece on a previously unpublished poem by Ivor Gurney, 'The Stokes Gunners', appears today.
Tim - I enjoyed 'The Stokes Gunners' very much and look forward to reading other previously unpublished poems. I did however interpret the poem differently: I thought that the first two lines were an introduction and that the aside 'O moral insects' was self-deprecating because Gurney and his comrades were furtively enjoying the usual (unofficial) breakfast truce. The Stokes Gunners then saunter in and spoil the party. On re-reading the poem I probably have to agree with you that the Stokes Gunners were the 'moral insects' as they caused mayhem but were safely out of the way before retaliation struck. (Though in reality if they stayed around long enough to fire a hundred rounds - at least five minutes - they must have risked being on the receiving end of some return fire!)
Tim - I enjoyed 'The Stokes Gunners' very much and look forward to reading other previously unpublished poems. I did however interpret the poem differently: I thought that the first two lines were an introduction and that the aside 'O moral insects' was self-deprecating because Gurney and his comrades were furtively enjoying the usual (unofficial) breakfast truce. The Stokes Gunners then saunter in and spoil the party.
ReplyDeleteOn re-reading the poem I probably have to agree with you that the Stokes Gunners were the 'moral insects' as they caused mayhem but were safely out of the way before retaliation struck. (Though in reality if they stayed around long enough to fire a hundred rounds - at least five minutes - they must have risked being on the receiving end of some return fire!)