Issac Rosenberg: End of Tutorial

Rosenberg's signature, 1917

You have now completed your browsing. At the beginning of this session you were asked to record your initial impressions of the poem 'Break of Day in the Trenches' by Isaac Rosenberg. Once again, you are asked to read the poem and make appropriate comments this time noting whether your interpretation and analysis of the text has been changed by the information you were presented with relating to the poet's life.

The poem

'Break of Day in the Trenches'

The darkness crumbles away
It is the same old druid Time as ever,
Only a live thing leaps my hand,
A queer sardonic rat,
As I pull the parapet's poppy (5)
To stick behind my ear.
Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew
Your cosmopolitan sympathies,
Now you have touched this English hand
You will do the same to a German (10)
Soon, no doubt, if it be your pleasure
To cross the sleeping green between.
It seems you inwardly grin as you pass
Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes,
Less chanced than you for life, (15)
Bonds to the whims of murder,
Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,
The torn fields of France.
What do you see in our eyes
At the shrieking iron and flame (20)
Hurled through still heavens?
What quaver -what heart aghast?
Poppies whose roots are in men's veins
Drop, and are ever dropping;
But mine in my ear is safe, (25)
Just a little white with the dust.

Isaac Rosenberg

Isaac Rosenberg acknowledgments

I would like to express my deepest thanks to the following organisations and individuals who gave me permission to use much of the material in this tutorial:

  • Mr. I. O. Horvitch, the literary executor of Isaac Rosenberg's estate
  • The Imperial War Museum, London — in particular Pauline Allwright (Dept of Art), and Nigel Steel (Dept of Documents)
  • Oxford University Press
  • Carcanet Press
  • The Bancroft's Library, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  • The literary executors of Siegfried Sassoon's estate
  • Chatto and Windus

Every effort has been made to clear copyright on all the material used. Should anyone know of any oversight please contact me immediately! I would also like to acknowledge the kind support of various members of staff at Oxford University who have provided invaluable advice on the construction of this tutorial: Grazyna Cooper, Marilyn Deegan (for allowing me to do this!), Mike Fraser, Mari Gill, William Jones (for the coffee and distracting conversations on football), Stephen Miller, Alan Morrison (for an enlightening insight into the merits of WWI poetry), Mike Popham, and David Snowling. This tutorial grew out of an original HyperCard program which would never have happened if Kathryn Sutherland (Nottingham University) had not come up with the original concept. Thanks also to all those who commented on the HyperCard version and to friends and colleagues who have agreed to test this site: Patrick Conner, Gregory McNamara, and the students of West Virginia University); Gloria McMillan (for her substantial contribution on Eastern European poetry); Katherine Fenton and members of staff at Exeter University; Chris Turner; Sallie Goetsch; Roy Johnson; and Barry Russell. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the input of the Robert Graves Trust based at St John's College, Oxford, in particular Phillip Hunter and William Graves.

Stuart Lee

Further Reading

The following books proved invaluable in the construction of this tutorial and act as an introductory reading list. In addition, anyone interested in this area should visit the excellent collections held at the Imperial War Museum London. Those who are unable to get to the museum should look at the list of products and educational material they have for sale through the Museum Shop.

Titles

  • Allinson, S., The Bantams (London, 1982).
  • Black, E. L., 1914-18 in Poetry (London, 1981).
  • Brown, M. (ed), The Imperial War Museum Book of The First World War (London, 1991).
  • Cohen, J., Journey to the Trenches: The Life of Isaac Rosenberg (London, 1975).
  • Fussell, P., The Great War and Modern Memory (Oxford, 1975).
  • Giddings, R., The War Poets (London, 1990).
  • Graves, R., Goodbye To All That (London, 1929).
  • Hibberd, D., Poetry of the First World War (London, 1981).
  • Parsons, I., The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg (London, 1979).
  • The Poppy and the Owl - Journal of the Friends of the Liddle Collection, The Library, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (tel: 0532-335566). Various issues used.
  • Reilly, C. W., Scars Upon My Heart: Women's Poetry Verse of the First World War (London, 1981).
  • Silkin, J., Out of Battle: The Poetry of the Great War (OUP, 1972; reprt. Ark Paperbacks, 1987).
  • Silkin, J., The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry (Penguin, 1979). Taylor, A. J. P., History of World War I (London, 1988).
  • Wilson, J. M., Isaac Rosenberg: Poet and Painter (London, 1975).

Stuart Lee

Previous:  WWI: Trench Warfare  Next:  Browse the Rosenberg Collection