Notebook, 1917-1918, 1917-1918
Scope and Contents
Notebook containing poetical drafts (mostly dated 1918), autobiographical notes or prose drafts, with some diary entries. Contents include:
- a list of places Sassoon was posted with the 25th Battalion R.W.F. [Royal Welch Fusiliers], Dec. 1917-18 July 1918: /inside front cover.
- drafts of poetry: /1v. untitled, begins 'Birds have their singing time' (poem is excised); /2r. 'I Stood with the Dead', 18 June 1918; /3r, /14r-15r. 'Flamingoes' (sic); /3v. 'Near Port Said' (excised); /4v. 'Can I forget ...', 10 Aug. [1918]; /5r. untitled, begins 'Soldiers are heroes to the yelping pack' (text is faint), with abstract drawing; /6r. untitled, begins 'I've listened since the war began' (excised; text partially erased); /6v-7r, /8r. 'Hawthornden (to R.S.M.)' [Roderick Sinclair Meiklejohn], St. Hilaire, 6 July 1918; /7v. 'Shadows', 16 April 1918 (text is very faint); /10v-13r. 'Concert-Party'; /15v. 'His Epitaph (in the old-fashioned artificial manner)'; /16v-17r. 'Civilisation (on the boat)', May 1918; /18v. untitled, begins 'For the last time I say, War is not glorious', 3 May 1918; /20v-21v. 'On reading de la Mare's poems after the day's work', 3 June 1918 (excised); /25v. 'Colin', 12 June 1918 (text erased and largely illegible); /29r. 'Requiescant', 4 Aug. 1918; /29v-30r. 'A Soldier's Complaint', 21 June [1918] (excised); /31r. 'The Spirit of the Bayonet', 21 June [1918]; /31v-33r. 'Tactical Points', 5 June [1918] (excised); /33v-34v. 'To any Father who thinks War splendid', 22 June [1918]; /35v. untitled, begins 'For they are dwellers in the dark', 28 June [1918] (excised); /36r. untitled, begins 'I read your songs of birds and flowers and trees' (excised); /44v-45r. 'Pursuit', 19 July [1918] (excised); /47v-48r. untitled, begins 'I love all things that pass'; /48v-49v. two drafts of 'The King of Glory', later called 'Jesus in Heaven', 3 Aug. [1918]; /50r. 'The Crucifix', 7 Aug. 1918 (excised); /50v-51r. draft lines of poetry, some of which were later used in 'The Dug-Out', Lancaster Gate, 9 Aug. 1918; /51v-53r. untitled (early draft of 'Great Men'); /54r. 'B.G.C', June 1918. - prose and diary entries: /2v. 'Incidents', Kantara, Egypt, April [1918]; /4r. 'On the March', Ludd, Palestine, April 1918; /5v. diary entry dated 15 April [1918]; /8v-13r. 'Concert Party' accompanying a draft of his poem of the same name, 17 Apr. 1918; /17v-18r. 'On the boat', 3 May 1918: entry begins 'I get angry and scornful against the officers on board'; /19r. 'Night on the Convoy', [May? 1918]; /19v-20r. diary entry for 4 May 1918; /22r-22v. 'Dreams', beginning 'Last night I dreamed that I was leading my company into battle'; /24r-24v. 'Demeanour (in the trenches)', 10 June 1918; /26r. 'Amenities'; /26v-27r. 'Premonitions (Duhamel again)'; /27v-28v. 'The other side of the picture', 14 June [1918]; /36v-38r. 'What the Bishop said (or the Spiritual Equivalent of Campbell's Bayonet Fighting Lecture)', 7 July [1918]; /38r-44r. 'Confessions (in hospital at the base)', 15 July [1918]; /45v-46v. 'Diagnosis', 30 July [1918].
- two lists of earlier poems by Sassoon, one of which gives publication dates (both are excised): /54v.
- signature, 'Siegfried Sassoon, 3rd RW Fus - Dec. 1917': /inside back cover.
Note that the entries were not written into the notebook in chronological order. From folio /54r entries resume from the back of the notebook. The foliation is the archivist's.
Dates
- 1917-1918
Conditions Governing Access
This notebook has been digitised and can be viewed in full on the Cambridge Digital Library at http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-09852-00006-00003/1. The original item is fragile and is currently unavailable for consultation.
Extent
1 volume(s) (54 ff.)
Language of Materials
English
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Notebook of red morocco with metal clasp.
Bibliography
Creator
- From the Fonds: Sassoon, Siegfried Loraine, 1886-1967 (poet and author) (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
Cambridge University Library
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Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom
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