“It was in this same class that I wrote my first poem, in order to win for the school a half holiday.”

His first remembered poetic purpose was pleasingly practical · Autobiographical letter to Lewis Chase, 6 June 1917

• Childhood
• Humour
• Poetry

“For a long time I did little but criticise and rearrange my books, separating, as it were, the sheep from the goats.”

Reading critically became part of his education as a writer · Autobiographical letter to Lewis Chase, 6 June 1917

• Books
• Criticism
• Learning

“If you visit the Front don’t forget to come up the line at night to watch the German rockets. They have white crests which throw a pale flame across no-man’s-land. It is like the end of a beautiful world.”

Finds haunting beauty within a landscape created by war · Letter to Edward Marsh, 1 July 1917

• Beauty
• Light
• War