Joseph Lee ( poet ) Joseph Johnston Lee ( 1876 – 1949 ) was a Scottish journalist , artist and poet , who chronicled life in the trenches and as a prisoner of war during World War I . He is also remembered for his fight with then poet laureate Robert Bridges over the literary value of Robert Burns ' work . He has been described as " Scotland ' s ' Forgotten ' War Poet " . Biography . Born in Dundee , in 1876 Joseph Johnston Lee was the grandson of Sergeant David Lee , who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars . Lee began his working life at the age of 14 . After a spell of employment in the office of a local solicitor , he went to sea as a steamship ' s stoker . In 1904 Lee worked as an artist in London drawing cartoons for the Tariff Reform League , and subsequently became a newspaper artist . He returned to Dundee in 1906 and started to write for , produce and edit several local periodicals , most notably The " City Echo " and " The Piper O ' Dundee " . In 1909 he founded and edited " The Tocsin " a monthly periodical which promoted the labour movement in Dundee . This publication won praise from leading figures in the Labour Party including Keir Hardie and Philip Snowden , but folded after less than a year . In 1909 he became gained employment with the Dundee newspaper and periodical publishers John Leng & Co . He was soon a regular contributor of poetry to their weekly newspaper " The People ' s Journal " , a publication which he would go on to edit . He published his first book of poems , " Tales o ’ Our Town " , in 1910 . In 1914 his play " Fra Lippo Lippi , Painter of Florence " was produced and performed by students of the Dundee Technical College and School of Art . Although almost 40 when World War I began , Lee enlisted in the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch in 1914 and eventually rose to the rank of Sergeant . During this time he sent sketches and poems back home to Scotland . These were eventually collected in two books of poetry , " Ballads of Battle " and " Work - a - Day Warriors " . In 1917 he gained a commission as a second lieutenant in the 10th Battalion of the King ' s Royal Rifle Corps . Later that year he was reported to be missing in action . In fact Lee had been captured and became a prisoner of war in Germany . His time spent as a POW was later depicted in his book " A Captive in Carlsruhe " . In 1924 Lee married Miss Dorothy Barrie , who was a well - known viola player . The couple settled in Epsom and Lee became sub - editor on the News Chronicle . He also studied at the Slade School of Art during this period . He returned to Dundee in 1944 , and died there in 1949 . Reputation as a Poet . Lee ' s war poetry was widely praised when it was published during the conflict . His poem " The Green Grass " was acclaimed by John Buchan as one of the best war poems he had read . Lee ' s reputation as a war poet once ranked alongside that of Wilfred Owen , Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Brooke . However as the works of Owen and Sassoon grew in popularity , Lee ' s fame was eclipsed . Lee ' s biographer Bob Burrows suggests that one reason why Lee ' s poetry failed to achieve the lasting recognition of that of his more famous contemporaries was because he did not have the backing of an influential supporter . He also notes that Lee came through the War relatively unscathed and returned to his old work as a journalist after his release from captivity in Germany . Burrows also suggests that Lee had no ambition to be a great literary figure and thus did little to push his work . In addition he puts forward the view that Lee ' s working class origins would have made it difficult for his work to achieve widespread acclaim . Legacy . Joseph Lee ' s papers are now held by Archive Services at the University of Dundee . They include Lee ' s correspondence with Robert Bridges as well as material relating to his time as a prisoner of war . The collection also features copies of Lee ' s publications and material relating to them , including a letter from Keir Hardie . An exhibition devoted to Lee was held at the University of Dundee in 2005 and was opened by his great niece . In 2011 materials from Lee ' s papers , including extracts from the diary he wrote during his spell as a prisoner of war , were featured in an exhibition held by Archive Services to mark Remembrance Day . A biography of Lee , by Bob Burrows , was published in 2004 . Publications . Lee ' s first major collection of poetry , " Tales o ’ Our Town " ( Dundee : George Montgomery , 1910 ) , features around sixty poems , most of which relate to people , places and events in his native Dundee . The volume also contains illustrations drawn by Lee . His first collection of war poetry , " Ballads of Battle " ( London : John Murray , 1916 ) , contains 38 poems and 17 illustrations drawn by Lee . " Work - A - Day Warriors " ( London : John Murray , 1917 ) contains 39 poems , including four which had previously been published in The Spectator and one , " The Carrion Crow " , which had earlier been published in The Nation . As with his earlier works , this volume also contains drawings by Lee . The New York Times regretted Lee ’ s choice of title for this volume , as it felt it failed “ to convey the real depth of Mr . Lee ’ s work ” .