Julian Grenfell

Encyclopedia : J : JU : JUL : Julian Grenfell

Julian H. F. Grenfell (March 30, 1888 - May 26, 1915), was a British poet of World War I.

He was the son and heir of Lord Desborough, and was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. He joined the army in 1910, well before the outbreak of war, and his most famous poem, Into Battle, was published in The Times in 1915, only a few weeks before he was killed in action.

In a letter that was written in October 1914, Grenfell wrote "I adore war. It is like a big picnic but without the objectivelessness of a picnic. I have never been more well or more happy." This letter was infamous when its publications sparked a backlash of arguments that it was naive and that it strengthened propaganda media, which had led to thousands of young men signing up to the British Army, under false pretence.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.