Sassoon, Owen and Graves
The history of Craiglockhart
The War's effect on ordinary people
links to related sites
Acknowledgements, credit and contact
Pat Barker's trilogy
Music, prose and trench art
Introduction
The War Poets - Wilfred Owen 2
HomePage
Siegfried Sassoon page 2

Weakened and exhausted by the horror of war Owen was returned to England and on 26 June 1917 he arrived at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh.

After six weeks rest Owen slowly began to explore his surroundings. In August 1917 he wrote: 'I saw Holyrood on Sunday afternoon ... a floating mirage of gold mist; a sight familiar enough in dreams and poems, but which I never thought possible in these lands'. The war had had a huge impact on Owen, however, encouraged by his doctor he began participating in activities which Dr Brock felt would be beneficial to his recovery. Owen began teaching at the local Tynecastle School, carried out research in the Advocate's Library and edited the fortnightly magazine of Craiglockhart War Hospital - The Hydra. Dr Brock soon learned of Owen's enthusiasm for poetry and encouraged him to write. The four months that Owen spent at Craiglockhart were in fact the most creative of
his short life. His best known poems, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' belong to this period. Owen also drafted a futuristic play, set in the year 2000 and entitled 'Purpose: To expose war to the criticism of reason', unfortunately the manuscript for this play has not survived.

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