We’re sharing a poem written by John Purvis.
Purvis became known for his work modernising the York Mystery Plays, but during the First World War he served with the 1st/5th Yorkshire Regiment.
Prior to the outbreak of the First World War Purvis taught at Cranleigh School, Surrey. Away from school, walks along the South Downs gave him great pleasure. Chance Memory, or The Steyning Poem, first published in 1916 under a pseudonym, vividly contrasts the beauty of an English lane leading to a stone circle, with life in the trenches. It was a mental image he held on to during the darkest days of his life as a soldier – a memory of a life he was fortunate enough to return to.
I can’t forget the lane that goes from Steyning to the Ring
In summer time, and on the Down how larks and linnets sing
High in the sun. The wind comes off the sea, and Oh the air!
I never knew till now that life in old days was so fair.
But now I know it in this filthy rat infested ditch
When every shell may spare or kill – and God alone knows which.
And I am made a beast of prey, and this trench is my lair.
My God! I never knew till now that those days were so fair.
So we assault in half an hour, and – it’s a silly thing –
I can’t forget the narrow lane to Chanctonbury Ring.