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Wilfred Owen's Scarborough: the Extra Bits
Things I mention in the audio walk that could do with a bit more explanation...
AbouT
Dr. Paul Elsam
Discussion point: 'The Calls' and Jessie Pope
Discussion point: 'The Calls' and Jessie Pope
I'm an artist-researcher based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. Over the decades I've been an author, actor, photographer, theatre director, trainer - plus lots of things no-one has yet paid me to do!
I created 'Wilfred Owen's Walking Tour' after becoming fascinated by the life and work of a young WW1 w
I'm an artist-researcher based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. Over the decades I've been an author, actor, photographer, theatre director, trainer - plus lots of things no-one has yet paid me to do!
I created 'Wilfred Owen's Walking Tour' after becoming fascinated by the life and work of a young WW1 war poet who was just twenty-five when he was killed in 1918. I was already a fan of his moving poetry when I began to learn how important Scarborough had been in his life.
I think the thing that attracted me most to his poetry was the combination of risk - he wrote shocking truths, and didn't seem to care who might object - and also wit and humour. This second thing is quite often overlooked, yet I'm sure it helps us to 'see' better a brilliant writer who comes to us with so little of the usual 'back-up' evidence. What did he look like as an adult? We have a few photos, none of which show him wearing his glasses, or having fun. What did he sound like? We have to guess at this - and in fact I have guessed, in an article you can read online (see link below).
I actually adapted the audio walk from a chapter I'd completed on Wilfred's months in Scarborough. The bigger book is not yet published, but I continue to work on this, inspired by encouraging feedback from Daniel Hipp, an American professor and author of the insightful book 'The Poetry of Shell Shock' (McFarland).
I've written articles about Wilfred Owen for a couple of scholarly journals, but at least one of them is (in effect) behind a paywall. Get in touch if you're interested, and I'll send you a pdf by email. Meantime you'll also find, on this small website, a bit more detail on two things I mention in the audio walk: Wilfred's secret mockery of fellow poet Jessie Pope, in his poem 'The Calls'; and my 'take' on how something very personal may have influenced Wilfred's writing of the haunting poem 'Strange Meeting'.
Finally, here's that link to my 2021 article on Wilfred's likely speaking voice:
If you like the article, have a look at the (free to access) online journal it comes from. It's called 'Arts of War and Peace', and is edited by impressive French scholars (sometimes writing in French). Here's a link to the special Wilfred Owen edition. Health Warning - it starts with a bit of my own creative writing:
https://artswarandpeace.univ-paris-diderot.fr/2021/05/
Discussion point: 'The Calls' and Jessie Pope
Discussion point: 'The Calls' and Jessie Pope
Discussion point: 'The Calls' and Jessie Pope
Some of Wilfred's poems and letters reveal a bitter truth - one that also hugely bothered his friend and mentor Siegfried Sassoon: as the 1914-18 war in continental Europe trundled on, and as men continued to die horribly in huge numbers, many civilians back in the UK simply lost interest. This was deeply depressing for those fighting abr
Some of Wilfred's poems and letters reveal a bitter truth - one that also hugely bothered his friend and mentor Siegfried Sassoon: as the 1914-18 war in continental Europe trundled on, and as men continued to die horribly in huge numbers, many civilians back in the UK simply lost interest. This was deeply depressing for those fighting abroad; but it was also damaging to the War Effort, in the sense that the government was finding it hard to recruit new fighters. This is where propagandists like poet Jessie Pope came in. It's well known that Wilfred's shocking poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' was initially 'dedicated' to Pope and others like her - see the link here:
http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/document/5655/5623
But Wilfred's focus in Scarborough was on Pope's poem 'The Call' - a guilt-inducing call for young men to make their loved ones proud, by joining the Army. The Pope poem is simplistic in style, with repeating taunts aimed at 'my laddie' (the phrase is used nine times). Here's the poem:
https://allpoetry.com/poem/8605781-The-Call-by-Jessie-Pope
Wilfred alluded to Pope's poem in a bitter letter home sent just days before he was killed. A comrade, Lieutenant Gregg - quite recently a father - had just died of wounds. ‘I suppose the child will be told she should be proud of Daddie, now’. Lt. Gregg had signed up a laddie, and had died a Daddie.
During the audio walk, I mention how two key words in Wilfred's poem 'The Calls' (note the similar title!) had always been wrongly transcribed. The received version has Wilfred recording, at the end: 'A voice I know. And this time I must go'. This suggests, surely, a patriotic resolve to go back and fight. But Wilfred had actually written, 'A voice I know. And thanked I must go'. See for yourself, here:
http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/4679
Pope's own final verse starts with:
'Who'll earn the Empire's thanks—
Will you, my laddie?'
'You can shove your thanks where the sun don't shine', then - as Wilfred never actually wrote!
But why is this significant? Well, Wilfred's poem 'The Calls' has always tended to be dismissed for its occasional poor poetry, when in fact he is openly mocking Pope's poor poetry.
But, more importantly, in the draft seen at the link above, Wilfred never actually uses the line that has so often been quoted to show his self-sacrificing willingness to return to France to fight, and to die.
Discussion point: 'Strange Meeting'
Discussion point: 'Strange Meeting'
Discussion point: 'Strange Meeting'
During the audio walk, I suggested that in 'Strange Meeting' - generally accepted as a ghostly meeting between soldiers, one or both of whom are dead - Wilfred may also have been rehearsing what he’d like to have said to a close family member.
I'm not denying here that the poem features a ghostly meeting - I just think that (once again) t
During the audio walk, I suggested that in 'Strange Meeting' - generally accepted as a ghostly meeting between soldiers, one or both of whom are dead - Wilfred may also have been rehearsing what he’d like to have said to a close family member.
I'm not denying here that the poem features a ghostly meeting - I just think that (once again) the truth may be more nuanced.
Much of what we know about Wilfred is based, not only on his poems, but also on hundreds of letters sent mainly to his mother Susan. Few replies survive; and on his death, big bundles of Wilfred’s papers were burned by Susan at his request. However we do also have the detailed reminiscences of Harold Owen, Wilfred’s younger brother, who had shared a series of cramped bedrooms with him. Harold wrote 'Journey from Obscurity', a fat series of four book-length reminiscences on the Owen family. A few Owen scholars actively ignore Harold's reminiscences - surprising, I think, since he perhaps knew the younger Wilfred better than anyone.
Anyway, in the first book of 'Journey from Obscurity', Harold shares his memory of a shocking fight with Wilfred in a shared bedroom. At this point, Wilfred was going through puberty, roughly five years ahead of his younger brother.
It seems Harold woke in darkness to hear ‘something padding around the room with moans and groans and incantations’ - for Harold, ‘another of [Wilfred's] attempts to make me leap with fright’. Harold snapped. 'I was propelled out of bed and into violent attack on him, and this time I really meant to hurt. The complete surprise and ferocity of my attack unnerved Wilfred himself, so that he was incapable of retaliation or even defence… I had tasted power and knew it for what it was'. At the time, Harold was known locally as the 'Birkenhead Bullfighter' - someone to be feared for his fighting abilities. The viciousness of the attack must surely have shocked Wilfred (it was only stopped after their father intervened). It seems reasonable to me to suggest that this shocking event led directly to the brothers' partial estrangement, which only increased as they reached adulthood and joined different branches of the armed services (Harold joined the Navy).
In my view, then, the long reply from the second speaker in 'Strange Meeting' - traditionally accepted as a German soldier - may also, in Wilfred's imagination, be the voice of his estranged brother Harold, reaching out to him from (literally) far off. It might even be Wilfred himself, secretly addressing Harold via a poem.
I can't prove this - it's just a theory - but you might find it interesting to read the poem again, with this theory in mind...
Finally...
Discussion point: 'Strange Meeting'
Discussion point: 'Strange Meeting'
Apologies for the image above! It's an early idea for a leaflet created the Walk.
But Wilfred did need glasses, and wore them - one of a number of truths about this talented young man that may have been overlooked.
I'm actually redrafting not one but two books on Wilfred Owen. One is a full-length biography; the other is a book of origina
Apologies for the image above! It's an early idea for a leaflet created the Walk.
But Wilfred did need glasses, and wore them - one of a number of truths about this talented young man that may have been overlooked.
I'm actually redrafting not one but two books on Wilfred Owen. One is a full-length biography; the other is a book of original old postcards. The first book offers new insights into Wilfred's life and work; the second allows you to see the world through Wilfred's eyes - from birth to death - through text, plus nearly 200 original postcards.
I'm not sure yet whether these projects should be published as books, or offered via some other format (such as sending out regular email posts, e.g. via Substack).
Opinions welcome!
Best wishes,
Paul