Eva Dobell
Encyclopedia
Eva Dobell was a British
poet, nurse, and editor, best known for her poems
on the effects of World War I
and her regional poems.
, and the niece of the Victorian poet Sydney Dobell, she composed one volume of poetry before volunteering as a Voluntary Aid Detachment
nurse in World War I
, during which she also took part in the morale-boosting work of writing to prisoners of war.
poems was recently set to music), Dobell is best-known today for her occasional poems from the war period, which all describe wounded soldiers, their experiences, and their bleak prospects. A few of these poems are widely dispersed on the internet, and these continue to receive some scholarly acknowledgment. "Night Duty," for instance, is cited as one of many poems by female war-poets and nurses that provide access to an experience rarely shared by male poets such as Wilfred Owen
and Siegfried Sassoon
. Perhaps the most frequently reproduced is "Pluck," especially on sites dedicated to the Great War. "Pluck" also found its way into printed anthologies such as The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War, and was even set to music.
After the war, she continued to write; in all, she published half a dozen books of poetry, a verse drama, and edited a book of poems by Lady Margaret Sackville
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
poet, nurse, and editor, best known for her poems
War poet
A War poet is a poet writing in time of and on the subject of war. The term, which is applied especially to those in military service during World War I, was documented as early as 1848 in reference to German revolutionary poet, Georg Herwegh.-Crimean War:...
on the effects of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and her regional poems.
Biography
The daughter of a wine merchant and local historian from CheltenhamCheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, and the niece of the Victorian poet Sydney Dobell, she composed one volume of poetry before volunteering as a Voluntary Aid Detachment
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...
nurse in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, during which she also took part in the morale-boosting work of writing to prisoners of war.
Poetry
While she was also known in her time as a regional poet (one of her GloucestershireGloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
poems was recently set to music), Dobell is best-known today for her occasional poems from the war period, which all describe wounded soldiers, their experiences, and their bleak prospects. A few of these poems are widely dispersed on the internet, and these continue to receive some scholarly acknowledgment. "Night Duty," for instance, is cited as one of many poems by female war-poets and nurses that provide access to an experience rarely shared by male poets such as Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War...
and Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
. Perhaps the most frequently reproduced is "Pluck," especially on sites dedicated to the Great War. "Pluck" also found its way into printed anthologies such as The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War, and was even set to music.
After the war, she continued to write; in all, she published half a dozen books of poetry, a verse drama, and edited a book of poems by Lady Margaret Sackville
Lady Margaret Sackville
Lady Margaret Sackville was an English poet and children’s author.-Life:Born at 60 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, Lady Margaret was the youngest child of Reginald Windsor Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr, who died when she was fourteen...
.
Well-known poems
- "(In A Soldier's Hospital I) Pluck"
- "Advent 1916"
- "Night Duty"
- "(In A Soldiers' Hospital II)Gramophone Tunes"
Books of poetry
- Songs and Sonnets. London: Elkin Matthews, 1902.
- A Bunch of Cotswold Grasses. London: A.H. Stockwell, 1919.
- Snap-shots of Travel. London: Erskine Macdonald, 1925.
- Youths and the Swallows and Other Verse. London: Favil Press, 1942.
- A Gloucestershire Year. Bradford: Jongleur Press, 1949.
- Verses New and Old. London: Favil Press, 1959.
Book edited
- Margaret Sackville. A Poet's Return: Some Later Poems of Lady Margaret Sackville. Cheltenham: Burrow's Press, 1940.
Anthologies
- S. Fowler WrightS. Fowler WrightSydney Fowler Wright was a prolific British editor, poet, science fiction author, writer of screenplays, mystery fiction and works in other genres...
, ed. The County Series of Contemporary Poetry No. VII. Gloucester: The Empire Poetry League, 1927. "The Roman Camp" and "The Faery Wood." - Catherine W. ReillyCatherine ReillyCatherine Reilly was a female publisher of women's poetry of the First World War. She collected the poetry of female poets and published them in two anthologies - Scars Upon My Heart, and Chaos of the Night: Women's Poetry and Verse of World War Two ....
, ed. Scars Upon My Heart: Women’s Poetry and Verse of the First World WarScars Upon My HeartScars Upon My Heart is a poetry anthology collected by Catherine Reilly which focuses upon poetry written by women during the First World War often from the wives and girlfriends who had loved ones serving in Europe as well as the poems from those who had lost loved ones. Many of the poets were...
. London: Virago Press, 1982. - Vincent Sherry, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. ISBN 9780521528979. "Pluck."
- Johnny CoppinJohnny CoppinJohnny Coppin is an English singer/songwriter, composer, poetry anthologist and broadcaster. He plays guitar and piano and has written and recorded many albums as a solo artist. He has a weekly one-hour show on BBC Radio Gloucestershire entitled Folk Roots which he has produced and presented every...
. The Gloucestershire Collection. Red Sky, 1994. "Tom's Long Post," set to music.