We were in it. Poems could be more reflective, an oasis, in fact. However, a generation later, when choosing poems to supplement Oasis, we realised that we were presenting a picture of yesterday to today. So we have chosen more poems that tell of the war, more poems of action. What I want to say is that a generation after the end of the Second World War, new anthologies were published in remembrance of an event that touched dramatically the lives of millions.
Poetry can immortalise things and people.
Going through the poems, one can trace the development of the war. But there is also the human side. Comparing World War II poets to those of World War I, G. S. Fraser writes that the sceptical feelings which the poets express are often the reaction to new, strange and picturesque surroundings, homesickness and loneliness, but seldom contain the pessimism of First World War poems. The universal theme of the later poets seems to be less a protest against war as such than feelings of a personal kind shared by many soldiers and, to some degree, hopes for a better world after the war. They reflect both a sense of loneliness and camaraderie.