The Poetry of War [Paperback]

'This book provides a welcome overview of poets' responses to war and should furnish teachers with valuable ideas and insights.' Tom Rank, Literary Connections

'The Poetry of War offers compelling evidence that poetry has played an important role in shaping how both soldiers and civilians have viewed war for thousands of years … Winn is writing not only for his fellow literary scholars but also for anyone who cares about war and truth …' David Rachels, The Journal of Military History

Poets from Homer to Bruce Springsteen have given voice to the intensity, horror, and beauty of war. The greatest war poets praise the victor while mourning the victim; they honor the dead while raising deep questions about the meaning of honor. Poets have given memorable expression to the personal motives that send men forth to fight: idealism, shame, comradeship, revenge. They have also helped shape the larger ideas that nations and cultures invoke as incentives for warfare: patriotism, religion, empire, chivalry, freedom. The Poetry of War shows how poets have shaped and questioned our basic ideas about warfare. Reading great poetry, Winn argues, can help us make informed political judgments about current wars. From the poems he discusses, readers will learn how soldiers in past wars felt about their experiences, and why poets in many periods and cultures have embraced war as a grand and challenging subject.

The Poetry of War shows how poets have shaped and questioned our basic ideas about warfare. Readers will learn how soldiers in past wars felt about their experiences, and why poets in many periods and cultures have embraced war as a grand and challenging subject.

James Anderson Winn is Professor of English at Boston University.