Ancre River mill - Somme Battlefield
The Ancre at Hamel: Afterwards. Where tongues were loud and hearts were light I heard the Ancre flow; Waking oft at the mid of night I heard the Ancre flow. I heard it crying, that sad rill, Below the painful ridge By the burnt unraftered mill And the relic of a bridge. And could this sighing river seem To call me far away, And its pale word dismiss as dream The voices of today? The voices in the bright room chilled And that mourned on alone; The silence of the full moon filled With that brook's troubling tone. The struggling Ancre had no part In these new hours of mine, And yet its stream ran through my heart: I heard it grieve and pine, As if its rainy tortured blood Had swirled into my own, When by its battered bank I stood And shared its wounded moan. Edmund Blunden (1896-1974) was born on 1 November 1896 in London, Christ's Hospital. Poems published in his school magazine. Enlisted in Aug 1915 when he was 19 years old and still at school. 2nd Lt. 11th Royal Sussex Regiment: from 1915-19, fought at Somme and at 3rd. Ypres, Military Cross during Somme battle. Shortly befor March 1918, Blunden was sent home on rest leave for six months. This effectively brought Blunden's war to a close. During his service in France and Flanders he spent two years at the front, more than any other well known war writer. He was inspired by the countryside that surrounded him during his youth and although he would continue to write pastoral poetry throughout his life the experience of war gave him another voice. Went to The Queen's College, Oxford in Oct 1919 and became Professor of English and greatly respected poet and scholar
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