Keith Douglas
This article possibly contains original research. (August 2011) |
Keith Douglas | |
---|---|
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England | |
Died | 9 June 1944 near Bayeux, Normandy, German-occupied France | (aged 24)
Resting place | Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery, Calvados, France[1] |
Occupation | Poet |
Language | English |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
Keith Castellain Douglas (24 January 1920 – 9 June 1944) was a poet and soldier noted for his war poetry during the Second World War and his wry memoir of the Western Desert campaign, Alamein to Zem Zem.[2] He was killed in action during the invasion of Normandy.
Poetry
Douglas described his poetic style as "extrospective";[3] that is, he focused on external impressions rather than inner emotions or feelings. The result is a poetry which, according to his detractors, can be cold even callous in the midst of war's atrocities. For others, Douglas's work is powerful and unsettling because its exact descriptions eschew egotism and shift the burden of emotion from the poet to the reader. His best poetry is generally considered to rank alongside the 20th century's finest soldier-poetry.
In his poem, "Desert Flowers" (1943), Douglas mentions World War I poet Isaac Rosenberg, claiming that he is only repeating what Rosenberg has already written.[4]
Early life
Douglas was born in
Education
Marie Douglas faced extreme financial distress, so much so that only the generosity of the Edgeborough headmaster Mr. James permitted Douglas to attend school in 1930–1931, his last year there. Douglas sat in 1931 for the entrance examination to
University
After his bruising brush with authority in 1935, Douglas settled down to a less troubled and more productive period at school, during which he excelled both at studies and games, and at the end of which he won an
At Oxford, Douglas entered a relationship with a sophisticated Chinese student named Yingcheng, or Betty Sze, the daughter of a diplomat. Her own sentiments towards him were less intense, and she refused to marry him. Yingcheng remained the unrequited love of Douglas's life and the source of his best romantic verse, despite his involvements with other women later, most notably Milena Guiterrez Penya.
Military service
Within days of the declaration of war he reported to an army recruiting centre with the intention of joining a
At dawn on 24 October 1942, the Regiment advanced, and suffered numerous casualties from enemy anti-tank guns. Chafing at the inactivity, Douglas took off against orders on 27 October, drove to the Regimental HQ in a truck and reported to the C.O., Colonel
Death
Captain Douglas returned from North Africa to England in December 1943 and took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. On 9 June Douglas's armoured unit was pinned down on high ground overlooking Tilly-sur-Seulles. Concerned by the lack of progress, Douglas dismounted his tank to undertake a personal reconnaissance during which he was killed by a German mortar.[11] The regimental chaplain Captain Leslie Skinner buried him by a hedge, close to where he had died on "forward slopes point 102".[12] Shortly after the war his remains were reburied at Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery (14 km south of Bayeux) in plot 1, row E, grave number 2.[1]
Play
A one-man play about Douglas and his work, entitled Unicorns, almost, written by Owen Sheers, premiered at the Hay Festival in May 2018.[13][14]
Bibliography
- Selected Poems (Keith Douglas, J. C. Hall, Norman Nicholson) (1943)
- Alamein to Zem Zem (1946), reprinted 1966
- Collected Poems (Editions Poetry London 1951),[15] reprinted 1966
- Selected Poems (Faber 1964)
- The Complete Poems (Faber and Faber 1978), reprinted in 1987, 1997, 2011
- ISBN 0-8204-0865-4
- The Letters of Keith Douglas edited by Desmond Graham (Carcanet Press, 2000) ISBN 978 1 857544 77 0
Biography
- Keith Douglas, 1920–1944 by Desmond Graham (OUP, 1974) ISBN 0-19-211716-5
References
- ^ a b "DOUGLAS, KEITH CASTELLAIN". Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-0571252961.
- ^ Kendall, Tim (2003). "'I see men as trees suffering': The Vision of Keith Douglas". Proceedings of the British Academy. 117. Oxford University Press: 431–432.
- ISBN 0192812319.
Rosenberg I only repeat what you were saying.
- ^ a b c d Stallworthy, Jon (2004). "Douglas, Keith Castellain (1920–1944)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 291.
- ^ Michael Mayer; Sidney Keyes, eds. (1941). Eight Oxford Poets. London: George Routledge & Sons.
- ISBN 9780199640256.
- ^ "J.C. Hall - Authors - Faber & Faber". www.faber.co.uk.
- ^ "No. 3508230222". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 February 1941. p. 1067.
- ISBN 978-1-474-60329-4. Retrieved 18 December 2019.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0141959269.
- ^ "Play by Owen Sheers is about poet during WWII". Brecon & Radnor Express. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Armisted, Claire (28 May 2018). "Unicorns, Almost review – poignant portrait of a tormented war poet". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Sheers, Owen (28 May 2005). "Lest we forget". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
External links
- Archival material at Leeds University Library