The Poetry of War
Spoken Word: War Poetry on Quiddity
WUIS program Quiddity, the radio-arm of the literary magazine, devotes an episode to war poetry and soldier-poets. We’ve been reading our share of war poetry here with James Winn and The Poetry of War, but the brilliant thing about the medium is to hear poets reading, speaking and singing their works and the extra impact [...]
James Winn’s Top 5
James Winn’s article on the Five Best works of war poetry in honor of Memorial Day As printed in the Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2008 1. The Iliad Translated by Robert Fagles. Viking, 1990. For sheer, unblinking realism, no war poem can surpass Homer’s “Iliad.” When a man is “skewered . . . straight [...]
Noblesse Oblige
The idea of chivalry has always been a fraud… James Winn, author – The Poetry of War …a system of polite and honorable ideals masking shameful and violent acts. Medieval poets played a crucial part in creating the myth of chivalry, and poets from many later periods were responsible for sustaining it. The persistence of [...]
War Poet Wednesday
Women love a man in uniform, so they say. James Winn points out that even in 1714, some women saw through the supposed dignity that the red British military uniform brings. Some things never change; the dignity of the soldier is still being attacked and defended in America today, but in a different way. While [...]
War Poet Wednesday
While war may rob and subvert language, simplifying the grandest of catastrophes, the political realm can rob poetry of its soul, hijacking poetic language for its own gains. James Winn, author of The Poetry of War shows us how poets strike back. If you haven’t caught it yet, read Winn’s article in The Chronicle of [...]
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