"Achilles in the Trench" aka “I saw a man this morning” by Patrick Shaw-Stewart

Patrick Shaw-Stewart (1888–1917) was born in Wales son of a British general. He attended Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he excelled academically and was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. Associated with the socialite and aristocrat Lady Diana Cooper, Shaw-Stewart was part of her “corrupt coterie” and wrote her many intimate letters full of erotic allusions to Greek and Latin literature. Already a highly successful banker before war broke out, Shaw-Stewart joined the army in 1914 and served with Rupert Brooke in the Royal Naval Division; he was even present at Brooke’s burial in Skyros.

While known as a “war poet,” Shaw-Stewart wrote only one poem, “Achilles in the Trench” which was penned in a period of rest before fighting at Gallipoli and published after his death. The poem contains allusions to Greek literature, notably Homer’s Iliad. Shaw-Stewart was killed at Cambrai in 1917 and buried at Metz-en-Couture.  (The Poetry Foundation)

Men of the Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli

I saw a man this morning

     Who did not wish to die

I ask, and cannot answer,

     If otherwise wish I.

 

Fair broke the day this morning

     Against the Dardanelles;

The breeze blew soft, the morn's cheeks

     Were cold as cold sea-shells.

 

But other shells are waiting

     Across the Aegean sea,

Shrapnel and high explosive,

     Shells and hells for me.

 

O hell of ships and cities,

     Hell of men like me,

Fatal second Helen,

     Why must I follow thee?

 

Achilles came to Troyland

     And I to Chersonese:

He turned from wrath to battle,

     And I from three days' peace.

 

Was it so hard, Achilles,

     So very hard to die?

Thou knewest and I know not—

     So much the happier I.

 

I will go back this morning

     From Imbros over the sea;

Stand in the trench, Achilles,

     Flame-capped, and shout for me.