Description

"How many have fallen? - How many will die? How long till we see that the Truth is a Lie?" - Edouard d'Araille

Its First Edition appearing in 2016 as 'The Fallen - Poetry of War and Conflict ', this was the first time that Edouard d'Araille's most significant poetic works relating to war, conflict, love and loss were brought together in a single volume. Now fully revised for this new Pocketbacks(TM) edition, 'THE FALLEN: Poems of War, Love and Loss' (2025), has expanded upon the earlier work by over two dozen pages and includes over a dozen new poems, those composed by d'Araille since the 2nd edition (2017).

'THE FALLEN' features some of his most renowned verse from earlier cycles, such as 'Love Me When I Die' and 'Letter into the Grave' from 'In a Short Space of Time' (1999), 'The Fallen' and 'Death is not Ours', which originally appeared in 'Words Can't Hold...' (2007) and 'Words of Mass Destruction', which first appeared as the title poem of 'WMD: Words of Mass Destruction' (2017). 'THE FALLEN' also introduces new poems especially composed for this new edition, including 'Soldier of Pain', 'Dark Dreams', 'The Human Price' and 'To An Unknown Soldier', inter alia. This publication presents over 100 pages of poetic content - a vital volume for students of Edouard d'Araille's poetry.

Several dozen war quotations, including extracts from poems, epitaphs, diaries and other historical documents, are interspersed through the text, interplaying with the poetry of war, loss and love. Figures quoted include Wilfred Owen, A.E. Housman, Siegfried Sassoon, Rudyard Kipling and Winston Churchill. The volume presented here is a 4"x6" Pocketback(TM) with glossy wrap-around photographic cover image based on a genuine war photo. The text is in an easy-to-read Palatino font.

"This anthology of poems brings together all the verse that I had previously published addressing the themes of war and conflict - in their many forms. The title poem of this collection was in fact written in 2005 and appeared in the volume 'Words Can't Hold...' in 2007. However, it is only since 2015 that this poem has gained significant readerships, not just in the west but from countries as diverse as Afghanistan, South Africa, Myanmar and Sierra Leone. My desperation about the hopelessness and helplessness of war, what a disingenuous pursuit it really is, seems to have resonated with many." - Edouard d'Araille