Michael Longley, known as “one of the outstanding elegists and war poets of the last four decades” (Fran Brearton, War Poets Association), has written movingly of war in many of its troubling permutations. Particularly poignant are poems he has written in memory of his father, Major Richard Longley, who served in the London-Scottish regiment in WWI. Two of Longley’s war poems, "Ronald Colman" and "Second Lieutenant Tooke", were printed in the Irish Times yesterday to commemorate Remembrance Sunday on November 11.
Remembrance Day, also known as Armistice Day or Poppy Day (the vibrant red flowers, reminiscent of blood, became associated with WWI in John McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Fields") is observed in Commonwealth countries to remember those soldiers who died in active duty. Remembrance Day has been observed since the end of World War I, which formally concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The holiday is observed in Northern Ireland, but most Irish nationalists and republicans don’t participate in this commemoration of British soldiers. In the U.S., the day is known as Veterans’Day.
Ronald Colman
“Ronald Colman” commemorates the English actor Ronald Colman with whom Longley’s father served in WWI. Longley reveals, “My dad served with Ronald Colman in the Great War/And laughed at his daydream of Hollywood stardom”. Although wounded in the war, “Wounded at Messines – shrapnel in his ankle –/He tried in his films to cover up his limp…/my dad would go to see them all”, Ronald Colman did indeed go on to become a well-known, Academy-Award-nominated English actor.
Seamus Heaney describes Longley as a “custodian of griefs and wonders”. Longley’s talent for the elegy is undeniable. His familial connection to war lends itself to a deeply emotional experience commemorating not only Longley’s father but all those lost in the horrors of war.
Posted by Nicole
the poets and actors in the era of wars always produce work that can continue to enjoy a romantic toko bunga
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