Wilfred Owen
A professor of elocution, a young British man
Of twenty one, was invited as a tutor of English.
His client, being a Parisian lady, Mme Leger,
Was to spend the month of August in 1914,
In the foothills of the Pyrenees - near the town
Of Bagneres de Bigorre - The young Professor
Wilfred Owen, had originated from Shropshire.
Arriving at the station Of Bagneres de Bigorre,
Mr Owen, alongside a well-travelled trunk of green,
To be met by a Donkey cart, Mr Leger and his child.
A shy Nenette, giving the young man a slow smile.
A journey led to the villa of a mile from the town.
The Donkey cart carrying their visitor along a narrow
Valley, to where a miniature baroque mansion,
And white balustrades, nestled amid mountain trees.
A daily routine quickly became the norm for Mr Owen.
In order to earn his keep – he gave after breakfast
Madam Leger her two hours of conversational practice
The purpose of lessons to prepare for a Canadian trip,
In order for her to converse more easily with customers.
The lady’s interest of her teacher ran much deeper
Than just learning English – In the depth of fascination,
Mme Ledger eagerly told the professor that he should,
Behave to her, and the house, exactly as his wished.
Having bought himself some gentlemanly items,
In Bordeaux such as a straw hat, a few bow ties
And a walking stick. Wilfred Owen now grew a little
Moustache, in processing his young man’s image.
Proud to have worked his way forward as a teacher
He wrote, confiding emotions, in words to his mother.
Of how in France to be feeling - experiencing, ‘his life
As a lived out book.’ Yet the letter was never sent.
After the morning sessions, Wilfred was free to do,
As he wished and he spent time in Bagneres,
or out climbing looking to the heights of the Pyrenees.
Soon he took up a secret habit of bathing – finding
A hidden pool fed by cool waters of the mountains.
Developing a tan, sitting beneath a Autumn sun –
With time spent sitting happily in the garden, smoking.
Owen’s idle moments, expanding into idle theories,
Of his designing an idealised fantasy of a country,
House – filled with people whom he might live -
Or invite, inspired him to compose a start of a poem.
September and a month, having passed since war
Had been declared, played upon the professor’s mind,
And of what might be the outcome of his own role
In the European war, as it was then being called.
Back in Bordeaux, Wilfred had looked to Spain’s
Neutrality - to think if that might be an option to go.
With noises from the North from Britain and France
Being stirred up into total war seemed a distance.
In the quiet area of Bagneres town, news carried
To them of war by the papers, yet isolation grew thin -
As this 21 year old Professor read of many German
Atrocities, to share within deep conversations on war.
In the drawing closer of France’s situation, the men
Of Bagneres began to be called up to the colours.
The towns mothers wept openly for departing sons.
then there came the talk of likely local German spies.
Anyone slightly alien to France seemed a suspect.
As a non-native, Wilfred had to be given a permit
Of police, in order to stay - further taking advice
Not to wear glasses, that made him look Germanic.
Owen looked more French without use of glasses,
As he read each day, of the cancerous spread of war.
Unlike Britain, army service was compulsory in France,
Prompting Wilfred to think he should do something -
So he imagined saving provinces at the Eastern Front.
August had long gone into September and the Legers
Return to Bordeaux was closing in - yet madam’s trip
Not until October, Owen was invited to stay with them,
With Mme’s idea for him to travel with her in the spring.
Canada would have seemed an adventure in spring
Of 1915, yet turns of events saw that door slowly close.
Owen learned of the visiting poet, Laurant Tailhade,
To Bagneres, to hold lectures upon the gift of writing.
Furthermore Tailhede was one of the Leger’s friends-
An encounter with a living poet would be monumental,
For the aspiring Wilfred Owen - from their introduction,
The poet was to influence Owen’s view, with exception
Of his pacifists’ views – the guidelines were to run deep.
Perhaps the conflict of pacifism, and desire of freedom
Fighting, embroiled some of the war poet’s oppositions.
An underlying need of experience, to be a man in war,
And as observer conveying suffering in his compositions.
Yet the fermentation continued in Bagneres, as Tailhade
Arrived on 27 August, for lunch at the holiday home.
The poet is likely to have seemed quite old to Wilfred,
formed from years of indulgence, drugs and absinthe.
Tailhade, being short of funds, was to stay at the villa.
Taking a great liking to the dark haired Englishman,
Laurant Tailhade poured over him, shown as he wrote
A Sonnet to Owen –flattered, Wilfred gave no response.
Admiration from a man of letters was yet to be treasured
A shared craft of literary gifts was to create a friendship.
Yet Owen knowing his own mind, kept it on a level plane
As he did with Mme ledger – a desire to write overriding all.
With October came changes like a ladder to the future
Days of August and September sun faded into October
And a return to Bordeaux – having played with the idea
Of returning home – with the ‘Affair Leger’ finally settled
The new capital of France where excitement brimmed.
To make use of his time in France, Owen talked to meet
People of interest, while seeking out a stable of pupils;
With Madam departure he moved from the Legers,
To the Lems household, to little more than an attic room.
Then another change found Wilfred a tutors place from
A wife of a senior General, for her nephew a Viscount.
Again a Donkey cart employed the move, of now three
Trunks, as he found himself in grander surroundings.
As October unfolded, it seemed that Owen had arrived.
Hibberd, D., 2002. Wilfred Owen –
A New Biography. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Ch 8-9.
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
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