The Poets of the Early 20th Century

By James Joyce, Sara Teasdale and Rupert Brooke

In England the Victorian Age was about to become the past and a new age of worldwide wars of horror and slaughter would envelop and decimate generations, forever staining mankind.

The Century would see the World discover strengths. The Democracies would stand firm against Fascism and later Communism yet still keep its own elite and privileged in power and the rest of us underfoot.

The World was more connected than ever before. Culture accelerated its kaleidoscopic and interwoven journey. Transport delivered people by car and train and then aeroplane to far flung corners of the globe. Empires were at their zenith and ready to fragment with new nations, many troubled, rising from their decay.

The natural world continued to be plundered and pillaged for its resources by industries who pledged ‘more’ and ‘better’ and would clothe and feed a growing world yet sow the seeds now ready to devastate us in our current times.

The globe was as vibrant and violent as troubled and tarnished as it ever was. But new ideas, new political systems, new times changed everything once again.

For our wordsmiths there was much to write about, much to contemplate. Poetry was moving from its grand established forms to experiment with others; The Imagists; The Modernists. Poetry seemed to be everywhere and from everyone.

Gibran, Brooke, Teasdale to Naidu and Ledwidge. These are but a few of this rich, diverse wave that with mere words bring treasures beyond compare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Portable Poetry
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781835470626

Book preview

The Poets of the Early 20th Century

Volume I

An Introduction

In England the Victorian Age was about to become the past and a new age of worldwide wars of horror and slaughter would envelop and decimate generations, forever staining mankind. 

The Century would see the World discover strengths. The Democracies would stand firm against Fascism and later Communism yet still keep its own elite and privileged in power and the rest of us underfoot.

The World was more connected than ever before.  Culture accelerated its kaleidoscopic and interwoven journey. Transport delivered people by car and train and then aeroplane to far flung corners of the globe.  Empires were at their zenith and ready to fragment with new nations, many troubled, rising from their decay.

The natural world continued to be plundered and pillaged for its resources by industries who pledged ‘more’ and ‘better’ and would clothe and feed a growing world yet sow the seeds now ready to devastate us in our current times.

The globe was as vibrant and violent as troubled and tarnished as it ever was.  But new ideas, new political systems, new times changed everything once again.

For our wordsmiths there was much to write about, much to contemplate. Poetry was moving from its grand established forms to experiment with others; The Imagists; The Modernists.  Poetry seemed to be everywhere and from everyone. 

Gibran, Brooke, Teasdale to Naidu and Ledwidge.  These are but a few of this rich, diverse wave that with mere words bring treasures beyond compare.  

Index of Contents

At the Grave of the Forgotten by Effie Waller Smith

Preparation by Effie Waller Smith

A Rajput Love Song by Sarojini Naidu

My Dead Dream by Sarojini Naidu

The Poet's Love Song by Sarojini Naidu

The Royal Tombs of Golconda by Sarojini Naidu

Real Property by Harold Monro

Midnight Lamentation by Harold Monro

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens

The Emperor of Ice Cream by Wallace Stevens

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock by Wallace Stevens

The Wayfarer by Patrick Pearse

The Mother by Patrick Pearse

To My Daughter Betty, The Gift of God by Tom Kettle

On Leaving Ireland, July 14th 1916 by Tom Kettle

Tenebris by Angelina Weld Grimké

The Eyes of My Regret by Angelina Weld Grimké

Image by Edward Storer

The Blind Ploughman by Radclyffe Hall

Ode To Sappho by Radclyffe Hall

Ardour by Radclyffe Hall

Palace by Guillaume Apollinaire

One Evening by Guillaume Apollinaire

The White Snow by Guillaume Apollinaire

The Heart of A Woman by Georgia Douglas Johnson

When I Rise Up by Georgia Douglas Johnson

Sunlight and the Sea by Alfred Noyes

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

The Rose by John Cournos

Among the Rodins by John Cournos

The Volunteer by Herbert Asquith

Autumn, 1914 by Mary Webb

Fallen by Alice Corbin

Two Voices by Alice Corbin

The Joy of a Dog by Edgar Albert Guest

See It Through by Edgar Albert Guest

It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar Albert Guest

An Old Woman of the Roads by Padraic Colum

A Prayer by James Joyce

Tilly by James Joyce

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now by James Joyce

Night Piece by James Joyce

Translation by Anne Spencer

White Things by Anne Spencer

Deirdre by James Stephens

Midnight by James Stephens

La Vie C'est La Vie by Jessie Fauset

Dead Fires by Jessie Fauset

Spectral by John Drinkwater

The Life of Love - Spring by Khalil Gibran

On Pain by Khalil Gibran

Autumn by Khalil Gibran

Song of the Flower by Khalil Gibran

Proof of Immortality by William Carlos Williams

This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams

The Crowd at the Ball Game by William Carlos Williams

The Embankment by T E Hulme

Trenches - St Eloi by T E Hulme

The Negro Has A Chance by Maggie Pogue Johnson

Cradle by Alfred Kreymborg

Old Manuscript by Alfred Kreymborg

Paradox by Anna Wickham

Divorce by Anna Wickham

The Deserter by Gilbert Frankau

I Shall Not Care by Sara Teasdale

The Kiss by Sara Teasdale

There Will Come Soft Rain by Sara Teasdale

I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale

Life Tells the Dreamer by Margaret Widdemer

The Old Road to Paradise by Margaret Widdemer

I Rose From Dreamless Hours by James Elroy Flecker

Felo De Se by James Elroy Flecker

Prayer by James Elroy Flecker

Wander Thirst by Gerald Gould

This is The Horror That, Night after Night by Gerald Gould

Dim Hours of Dusk by Sinclair Lewis

The Ultra Modern by Sinclair Lewis

A Crowded Trolly Car by Elinor Wylie

Sea Lullaby by Elinor Wylie

Gloire De Dijon by D H Lawrence

Brother And Sister by D H Lawrence

Baby Tortoise by D H Lawrence

Snake by D H Lawrence

Hallucination by F S Flint

London, My Beautiful by F S Flint

Portrait D'Une Femme by Ezra Pound

In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound

Middle Aged by Ezra Pound

Poetic Eggs by Ezra Pound

The Calm Poem by John Gould Fletcher

Monadnock by John Gould Fletcher

The Thought by Humbert Wolfe

The Poet As Hero by Siegfried Sassoon

Glory of Women by Siegfried Sassoon

The Pool by Hilda Doolittle

Song by Hilda Doolittle

Prayer by Hilda Doolittle

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

Rouge Bouquet by Joyce Kilmer

Main Street by Joyce Kilmer

Nocturnes by Skipwith Cannell

The Old Vicarage of Grantchester by Rupert Brooke

The Great Lover by Rupert Brooke

War Sonnet V - The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The Dead Kings by Francis Ledwidge

Soliloquy by Francis Ledwidge

Lament for the Poets, 1916 by Francis Ledwidge

THE POETS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

VOLUME I

At the Grave of the Forgotten by Effie Waller Smith

In a churchyard old and still,

Where the breeze-touched branches thrill

             To and fro,

Giant oak trees blend their shade

O'er a sunken grave-mound, made

             Long ago.

No stone, crumbling at its