A friend of Siegfried Sassoon the great writer yet in his own right a literary man of note <br />And though the name of Edmund Blunden nowadays seldom mentioned one well might say England's forgotten poet <br />Yet his great poem 'Almswomen' lives on as a classic one I can still recall from school going days <br />And why should we forget this man of letters when he is one well worthy of our praise. <br /> <br />As well as a poet he was a literary patron he first brought to public attention the poems of Wilfred Owen <br />Like he himself was a poet and a soldier at a time when the author of the 'Anthem Of Doomed Youth' was not well known <br />He also introduced to the public the poems of Ivor Gurney as well as publishing some of the unpublished poems of John Clare <br />He was one not shy in promoting others and people like him sad to say too rare. <br /> <br />In nineteen seventeen and eighteen he fought in France at Ypres when war raged in the green French countryside <br />And he wrote poems about his fallen comrades and about that beautiful part of France by war destroyed <br />'Twas said back then the war that would end all wars but wars are still declared and fought today <br />To resolve disputes humans resort to violence we seldom ever seek the peaceful way. <br /> <br />'The Poor Man's Pig' 'The Pike' and 'The Child's Grave' poetic gems from Edmund Blunden's pen <br />But 'tis sad to think his works are under rated and he's one of poetry's forgotten men <br />Yet I for one will always read his verses and admire the beauty that he did create <br />And one day his fame will be resurrected and his name will live on as a poetic great.<br /><br />Francis Duggan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/edmund-blunden/
