In 1916, he was badly wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of the Somme. He recalls how he would later be affected by loud bangs or any unusual smell throughout the rest of his life. He suffered from shell shock and a dreadful fear of gas attacks. – Robert Graves “Through the Periscope” (1915) After nine months hes shed All fear, all faith, all hate, all hope. Trench stinks of shallow buried dead Where Tom stands at the periscope, Tired out. He was one of the first poets to publish ‘realistic’ war poetry documenting the life of trench warfare. On the outbreak of war in 1914, Graves joined the army, enlisting in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. One of his schoolmasters was George Mallory, who gave Robert an interest in both contemporary literature and mountaineering. In response, he gave an impression of eccentricity and took up poetry and boxing. Though an excellent student, life at Charterhouse was tough he was relatively poor but outspoken he was also teased for his German connections. He was educated at a series of preparatory schools before gaining a scholarship to Charterhouse. His father was a school-master and his mother from an upper-class German family. Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon 24 July 1895 to middle-class parents. During his long life, he wrote over 140 works including an autobiographical account of his time in the First World War – Goodbye to All That. Robert Graves was a war poet, translator of classics and novelist.
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