Siegfried Sassoon (Author of The War Poems)

Siegfried Sassoon鈥檚 Followers (174)

Siegfried Sassoon

Born

in Matfield, Kent, England

September 08, 1886

Died

September 01, 1967

Genre

Poetry, Biographies & Memoirs, Fiction

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Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE was born into a wealthy banking family, the middle of 3 brothers. His Anglican mother and Jewish father separated when he was five. He had little subsequent contact with 鈥楶appy鈥�, who died of TB 4 years later. He presented his mother with his first 鈥榲olume鈥� at 11. Sassoon spent his youth hunting, cricketing, reading, and writing. He was home-schooled until the age of 14 because of ill health. At school he was academically mediocre and teased for being un-athletic, unusually old, and Jewish. He attended Clare College, Cambridge, but left without taking his degree. In 1911, Sassoon read 鈥楾he Intermediate Sex鈥� by Edward Carpenter, a book about homosexuality which was a revelation for Sassoon. In 1913 he wrote 鈥楾he Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE was born into a wealthy banking family, the middle of 3 brothers. His Anglican mother and Jewish father separated when he was five. He had little subsequent contact with 鈥楶appy鈥�, who died of TB 4 years later. He presented his mother with his first 鈥榲olume鈥� at 11. Sassoon spent his youth hunting, cricketing, reading, and writing. He was home-schooled until the age of 14 because of ill health. At school he was academically mediocre and teased for being un-athletic, unusually old, and Jewish. He attended Clare College, Cambridge, but left without taking his degree. In 1911, Sassoon read 鈥楾he Intermediate Sex鈥� by Edward Carpenter, a book about homosexuality which was a revelation for Sassoon. In 1913 he wrote 鈥楾he Daffodil Murderer,鈥� a parody of a John Masefield poem and his only pre-war success. A patriotic man, he enlisted on 3rd August, the day before Britain entered the war, as a trooper in the Sussex Yeomanry. After a riding accident which put him out of action, in May 1915 he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant. At the training depot he met David Thomas, with whom he fell in love.
In November Sassoon received word that his brother Hamo had died at Gallipoli. On 17th Nov he was shipped to France with David Thomas. He was assigned to C Company, First Battalion. It was here that he met Robert Graves, described in his diary as 鈥榓 young poet in Third Battalion and very much disliked.鈥� He took part in working parties, but no combat. He later became transport officer and so managed to stay out of the front lines. After time on leave, on the 18th of May, 1916 he received word that David Thomas had died of a bullet to the throat. Both Graves and Sassoon were distraught, and in Siegfried鈥檚 case it inspired 鈥榯he lust to kill.鈥� He abandoned transport duties and went out on patrols whenever possible, desperate to kill as many Germans as he could, earning him the nickname 鈥楳ad Jack.鈥� In April he was recommended for the Military Cross for his action in bringing in the dead and wounded after a raid. He received his medal on the day before the Somme. For the first days of the Somme, he was in reserve opposite Fricourt, watching the slaughter from a ridge. Fricourt was successfully taken, and on the 4th July the First Battalion moved up to the front line to attack Mametz Wood. It was here that he famously took a trench single handed. Unfortunately, Siegfried did nothing to consolidate the trench; he simply sat down and read a book, later returning to a berating from Graves. It was in 1917, convalescing in 'Blighty' from a wound, that he decided to make a stand against the war. Encouraged by pacifist friends, he ignored his orders to return to duty and issued a declaration against the war. The army refused to court martial him, sending him instead to Craiglockhart, an institution for soldiers driven mad by the war. Here he met and influenced Wilfred Owen. In 1918 he briefly returned to active service, in Palestine and then France again, but after being wounded by friendly fire he ended the war convalescing. He reached the rank of captain. After the war he made a predictably unhappy marriage and had a son, George. He continued to write, but will be remembered as a war poet. ...more

Combine Editions
Siegfried Sassoon鈥檚 books

Average rating: 4.09 · 8,554 ratings · 720 reviews · 136 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The War Poems 4.21 avg rating — 2,819 ratings — published 1919 — 153 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memoirs of an Infantry Officer 4.07 avg rating — 1,796 ratings — 81 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man 3.92 avg rating — 1,646 ratings — published 1928 — 111 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sherston's Progress 4.02 avg rating — 376 ratings — published 1936 — 40 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston 4.23 avg rating — 227 ratings — published 1937 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Collected Poems of Siegfried Sassoon 4.26 avg rating — 214 ratings — published 1961 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Counter-Attack and Other Poems by Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Nichols (Introduction) 4.28 avg rating — 172 ratings — published 1918 — 83 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Siegfried's Journey, 1916-1920 3.73 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 1945 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Diaries, 1915-1918 by Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Hart-Davis (Editor) 4.34 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1983 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The War Poets: An Anthology by Siegfried Sassoon (Contributor), Wilfred Owen (Contributor), Rupert Brooke (Contributor) 4.33 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 1988	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Siegfried Sassoon…

Series by Siegfried Sassoon

Sherston Trilogy (3 books)
by

Siegfried Sassoon

4.01 avg rating — 4,045 ratings

The Sassoon Diaries (3 books)
by

Siegfried Sassoon,

Rupert Hart-Davis (Editor)

4.19 avg rating — 73 ratings

Quotes by Siegfried Sassoon (?)

“Suicide in the trenches:

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

* * * * *

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.”
― Siegfried Sassoon, The War Poems

tags: simons-rock

60 likes

“The fact is that five years ago I was, as near as possible, a different person to what I am tonight. I, as I am now, didn't exist at all. Will the same thing happen in the next five years? I hope so.”
― Siegfried Sassoon

tags: change

46 likes

“Why do you lie with your legs ungainly huddled,
And one arm bent across your sullen cold
Exhausted face? It hurts my heart to watch you,
Deep-shadow'd from the candle's guttering gold;
And you wonder why I shake you by the shoulder;
Drowsy, you mumble and sigh and turn your head....
You are too young to fall asleep for ever;
And when you sleep you remind me of the dead.”
― Siegfried Sassoon, The War Poems

tags: thedug-out

40 likes

See all Siegfried Sassoon's quotes »

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Siegfried Sassoon鈥檚 Followers (174)

Siegfried Sassoon

Combine EditionsSiegfried Sassoon鈥檚 books

Series by Siegfried Sassoon

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Siegfried Sassoon鈥檚 books