Record Number: 32956
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
‘We are on a long march and I’m writing this on the chance of getting it off; so you should know I received your papers and also your letter … The Poetry Review you sent is good—the articles are too breathless, and want more packing, I think. The poems by the soldier are vigorous but, I feel a bit commonplace. I did not like Rupert Brooke’s begloried sonnets for the same reason. What I mean is second hand phrases “lambent fires” etc takes from its reality and strength. It should be approached in a colder way, more abstract, with less of the million feelings everybody feels … Walt Whitman in “Beat, drums, beat”, has said the noblest thing on war.’
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Jan and 30 Jun 1916
Country:France
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:25 Nov 1890
Socio-Economic Group:Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder
Occupation:Private, 11th Battalion, Kings Own Royal Lancasters Regiment
Religion:Jewish
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:France
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:'Beat! Beat! Drums!'
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsFirst published 1861; presumably Rosenberg owned a portable collection such as Stead's Penny Poets, which included Whitman
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:32956
Source:Isaac Rosenberg
Editor:Ian Parsons
Title:The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg: Poetry, Prose, Letters, Paintings and Drawings
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1984
Vol:n/a
Page:237
Additional Comments:
Letter to Mrs Cohen, c. June 1916, trenches in Somme area
Citation:
Isaac Rosenberg, Ian Parsons (ed.), The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg: Poetry, Prose, Letters, Paintings and Drawings, (London, 1984), p. 237, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32956, accessed: 21 December 2024
Additional Comments:
This reading may have taken place at any time.The evidence slightly suggests that Rosenberg may have carried a copy of Whitman's work and read it from time to time, as other war poems appeared.
