National Poetry Month, Part 4: WWI Poems
Posted by Anna Khomina on Friday, 04/28/2017
In 1918, Ella Osborn, an American nurse serving in France at the close of WWI, copied two poems into her personal diary: "In Flanders Fields," written in 1915 by Canadian surgeon Lt. Col. John D. McCrae, and "The Answer," a response by Lt. J.A. Armstrong of Wisconsin.
In Flanders Fields In Flanders Fields the poppies grow Take up our quarrel with the foe! |
The Answer – In Flanders Field the cannon boom Sleep on ye brave! The shrieking shell, Sleep peacefully, for all is well. |
As a nurse serving near the front, Osborn would have been a witness to the death and destruction of the war. Her diary details her daily life as well as the trauma of her work near the front line, caring for soldiers injured by bullets, bombs, and chemical weapons.
July 8. Miss Rottman, Miss Lent & I went to Bruley, and had an omlet, also bought some French cake which we could not eat.
Mon July 29. Went to the dressing room this morning had 22 dressings. 2 under anesthesia, did not get off for any time & came off dead tired & went to bed
Fri. May 31st nearly 400 of our boys were gased last night and are at 102 field Hosp. some are very bad—some say it was Phosgene gas and others say Mustard.
However, the poems stand in stark contrast to the tone of her typical entries, where her daily routines, from drinking tea to caring for soldiers with crippling injuries, are largely recorded in the same matter-of-fact, detached voice. These poems perhaps hint at Osborn’s attempts to make sense of the large-scale death and destruction around her.
On our website you can learn more about Ella Osborn, view our digital exhibition and timeline on World War I and America, and explore WWI primary sources, essays, and teaching resources in History by Era.