The 50th Anniversary of Edmund Blunden’s Passing

In remembrance of Edmund Blunden (ColA 09-15), a prominent poet of the Great War, we mark the 50th anniversary of his passing (1896-1974).

Blunden (1896-1974), attended Christ’s Hospital from 1909-1915. During his time at CH, he cultivated a deep passion for writing and became interested in notable past students like Coleridge, Lamb, and Leigh Hunt. He also developed a lifelong love for cricket and the countryside, themes that would later influence his poetry. He became Senior Grecian in 1914-15 and gained a scholarship to Oxford University to study Classics. However, the outbreak of World War I saw him join the 11th Royal Sussex Regiment and serve in France by 1916.

His book Undertones of War chronicles his harrowing experiences as a junior officer in battles like the Somme, Ypres, and Passchendaele. Blunden’s writings, both prose and poetry, poignantly capture the trauma of war and the loss of his Christ’s Hospital contemporaries. One notable event was “The Feast of Five,” a chance reunion in 1917 with four other Christ’s Hospital Old Blues in France, where they briefly found solace from the war’s horrors. Tragically, only two of them survived the conflict.

After the war, Blunden held several academic positions, including Professor of Poetry at Oxford and Professor of English at the University of Tokyo. He later worked as a writer and critic, became a fellow and tutor at Merton College, Oxford, and served as assistant editor of The Times Literary Supplement. He continued his academic career as Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Hong Kong and briefly returned to Oxford as Professor of Poetry in 1966.