Early War Literature: Patriotism and Propaganda

In August 1914, Britain went to war in a mood of intense patriotic fervour. The literature produced in the early months of the conflict reflects this mood: confident, idealistic, drawing on classical and chivalric traditions to present war as noble, purifying, and glorious. Understanding this early war literature is essential for two reasons: first, because some of it — particularly Brooke's sonnets — is genuinely accomplished poetry that deserves serious analysis; and second, because the later war poets defined themselves against this tradition. You cannot fully understand Owen's fury or Sassoon's satire without understanding what they were rejecting.

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The Climate of 1914