A Poet's Guide to Britain (BBC 4, Sunday, 9PM)

Despite this programme being several years old now, it is only the latest repeats on BBC 4 that I discovered this program. Looking at the program in light of the cuts and mistreatment the channel has had, the programme appears to represent the best qualities of the channel and the lack of encouragement it has experienced. Aimed at its typical cultural and creatively inclined audience, the programme explores areas of Britain through the perspective of various poems across the six episodes by poets such as William Wordsworth and Sylvia Plath.

Presented by poet Owen Sheers, he struggles to avoid the cliches associated with documentary presenters (talking about journeys, describing history in the present tense, unnecessary dramatic pauses- essentially everything Peter Capaldi parodies in the excellent The Cricklewood Greats). As such, he struggles to stand out and doesn't leave much of an impact as a presenter.

He's not helped by the programme wasting much of its running time being mini-documentaries about the poet's life, when his and the programmes strengths really shine when focusing on the poems themselves. The highlights are when Sheers is able to wax lyrical on the poems and relates the poem to its location. More of this would make it a must see for all poetry fans, surely the target audience. The programme works best when the biographical elements are used as context to enlighten the poems reading.

I'm fully ready to admit that this criticism is down to personal taste. It is almost certainly the literature geek in me that actually enjoys examining and analysing poetry rather than author's biographies. However, I exaggerate my dislike for them as they are usually interesting in their own right - I am fascinated how creative minds work and what fuels their creativity. As I say, they are interesting enough here but I feel the programme really needed to push its ambitions. The idea of using a poem to comment on the British landscape has potential that is squandered when biographic information is so abruptly used - it gives the impression of being forced as a tenuous link to its ambition.

Nevertheless, they are only half an hour long and enjoyable enough to not outstay its welcome.

'The Poems of Wilfred Owen' edited by Jon Stallworthy

It may seem unusual to acknowledge the importance of Wilfred Owen on this important day of respect. He was arguably one of the famous war poets in this country but rather than write poems of patriotism that could easily date, they showed the true horrors of the Front which has left a distinct impression on the image of warfare.

...world is but the trembling of a flare
And heaven but as the highway for a shell

[Apologia pro poemate meo]

Before explaining the relevance of the poetry, I must recommend this particular collection of Owen's work. This edition collects his poems in chronological order and in case you have any doubts about the placement, Stallworthy justifies his positioning with footnotes on when Owen was meant to have wrote them. They also include suggestions of where he was when he wrote them and how it was published, with enlightening insights in how the poems developed through numerous letters and drafts. Supported with literary analysis of each poem, Stallworthy has managed to provide enough information to maintain the audience's interest without overloading them with pointless tidbits. This detail is particularly welcome when you read the poems themselves. Aware that Owen did intend to reference Keats in his early works is quite satisfying.
Being well regarded for his war poetry, it is initially quite surprising to read his early pastoral, almost idyllic sonnets. While lacking the bite and memorability of his later work, they are enjoyable reads and his version of 'The Little Mermaid' is a definite highlight with shades of darkness which became giant strokes later.

Some men sing songs of Pain and scarcely guess
Their import, for they never knew her stress.

                                               [The Poet in Pain]

Warfare was the main focus of his poetry clearly but this did not stop him commenting on other important areas. He often provided unoriginal comments on class, with the upper class treating the working class like dirt, literally in the case of 'Inspection'.

"Three soldiers hailed her. She made no return.

One was called 'Orace whom she would not greet.

[Schoolmistress]

In contrast, I was completely shocked by his bitter reflections on religion, particularly in relation to the war. To me, they seemed rather controversial although I'm not sure if they made that sort of impact. 'Le Christianisme' contains a very concise description of how a statue of the Virgin Mary "Smiles on for war to flatter her" as she stands amongst the ruins of a church - these sort of images are scattered in various poems but I do not assume he was anti-religious in his views. What he suggested is how the faith in humanity at the heart of Christianity has become irrelevant to the men who are forced to slaughter their fellow human beings.

His depictions of the sheer brutality of warfare do make tough reading, inverting the use of poetry as beautiful and using it to produce disturbing imagery, most famously in 'Dulce et Decorum Est', one of my all-time favourite poems. More than any other of his poems, it is completely immersive and you are there with the soldiers, watching one poor victim "guttering, choking, drowning" But as soon as we are drawn in, Owen accuses us or rather the audience at the time for believing and repeating "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori." which roughly means "It is sweet and right to die for one's country" This disapprovement in the general public also involved their hypocritical behaviour with little or no reception for returning soldiers - 'The Send-off' most depressingly shows this attitude as they are whisked away "like wrongs hushed-up"

This disapproval of glorifying war and soldiers may seem at odds with this day where we give tribute to the soldiers who fought and died for us. Nevertheless it is because of these horrific situations that Owen describes that we should pay tribute to these soldiers. That they felt the need to put themselves through this, that they would sacrifice their lives in order for us to live which Wilfred Owen himself did, is truly honourable and is never mocked by Owen. The soldiers described in his poems are victims, thrust into a situation they are not used to and doing what they feel is best.

It seems fitting to end this post with the last written words by Owen, a preface for a potential collection of poems. As you would expect, he describes the intent of his poems more accurately and eloquently than I can:

Above all I am not concerned with Poetry.
My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity.
Yet these elegies are to this generation in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful.

Thank you - you will never be forgotten