What Are We Fighting For?: Poems About War
By Brian Moses and Roger Stevens
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About this ebook
What Are We Fighting For? is a poetry collection that explores the concept of war in a brilliantly accessible way for younger readers.
Fascinating and moving in equal measure, there are poems about incredibly brave dogs, cats and pigeons; the Christmas truce of WWI when soldiers played football in No Man's Land; poems about rationing and what it was like to be an evacuee, poems about modern warfare and the reality of war today; plus lots of amazing true historical facts.
This cross-curricular poetry book is a brilliant way to get young readers thinking about both the historical and philosophical aspects of war.
Brian Moses
Brian Moses spends much of his time visiting schools, where he runs workshops sessions and performs his poetry. He has compiled numerous collections for Macmillan (total sales of over 750,000 copies), including The Works 2 and The Secret Lives of Teachers. He lives in Sussex with his wife and two daughters.
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Book preview
What Are We Fighting For? - Brian Moses
Lines
The First World War
‘Swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget’
Siegfried Sassoon
The Great War
The First World War
Was known as the Great War
The War to End All Wars
Because it was hard to imagine
A darker war, a deadlier war
A grimmer or a grimier war
A scarier or a nastier war
A better name would have been
The Not-So-Great War
The Miserable War
The Senseless War
Or
The War That Did Not End All Wars
Or
The War That Taught Us Nothing
Roger Stevens
The Angels of Mons
Did the British have divine protection
in the first months of the war,
and was something seen on the battlefield
that had never been seen before?
Was there really an army of angels
when the British thought they were beat?
Were there shining figures among the clouds
that protected the British retreat?
Was the German cavalry stopped in its tracks
as the horses refused to advance?
And was it a supernatural sight
that gave the British a chance?
Some say that it was spectral figures
with flaming swords that lit the night.
Others say bowmen fired arrows
tipped with bright pulsating light.
Whatever happened soldiers escaped
when really they should have died.
And the Angels of Mons showed British troops
that Heaven could be on their side.
Brian Moses
Some British soldiers claimed to have seen visions in the sky while retreating after the Battle of Mons, August 1914.
Smile Please
I saw some old newsreels
Of the Great War
And I saw young men
From the towns and villages of Britain
Smiling for the cameras
Smiles as wide as sunshine
Like they were going on holiday
But as the French winter set in
And the mud in the trenches
Got thicker and colder
And more of their friends died
From bullet wounds
From explosions
From poisonous gas
The young men
Wading up to their waists in freezing mud
Tending the wounded and the dying
Were no longer smiling for the cameras
I saw some old newsreels
Of the Great War
And wondered
What were we fighting for?
Roger Stevens
The General’s Message on the Morning of Battle
It’s a beautiful day for a battle,
the sun is shining bright,
birds are high in the sky,
it’s a lovely day for a fight.
God is on our side, lads,
he’s sure to help us win.
We’re fighting the good fight,
impatient to begin.
The war will soon be over,
the war will soon be won.
We just need one more push to
help us rout the Hun.
Good luck to every one of you,
play up and play the game,
we’ve beaten them at football
and again we’ll do the same.
So come on lads, do your duty,
it’s over the top you go.
I’ll be with you there in spirit
as you race to meet the foe.
Our enemy is weakened,
we’re sure to have them beat.
But just in case we don’t,
I’ll be leading the retreat!
Brian Moses
The Hun – First World War slang for German soldiers