Ralph Hodgson's Talented Friends
The poet Ralph Hodgson was 43 in 1914 and so did not go to the battle front. He did try but was turned down on medical grounds. Instead, he would be employed for the duration on anti-aircraft duties and coastal defence on the East Coast of England. His would be a long war, with only occasional breaks for leave until his demobilisation in January 1919. He wrote little poetry either during or immediately afterwards yet, curiously, he would be closely involved in the production of three of the conflicts most enduring and commercially successful works.
Ralph Hodgson and Friends (continued)
The poet Ralph Hodgson was 43 in 1914 and so did not go to the battle front. He did try but was turned down on medical grounds. Instead, he would be employed for the duration on anti-aircraft duties and coastal defence on the East Coast of England. His would be a long war, with only occasional breaks for leave until his demobilisation in January 1919. He wrote little poetry either during or immediately afterwards yet, curiously, he would be closely involved in the production of three of the conflicts most enduring and commercially successful works.
Edmund Blunden: Undertones of War
Hodgson remained friends with Enid Bagnold for many years. The same cannot be said of the second of Hodgson’s trio of World War One writers. Edmund Blunden got to know Hodgson soon after the First World War when his poetry had been included in Georgian Anthology 5. As early as 1920, Hodgson had been advising Blunden when Blunden wrote to him enclosing a collection of verse entitled The Waggoner that would establish Blunden’s reputation. Blunden wrote, ‘I owe you a long score - for encouragement and for setting my feet (like the Psalmist) in a large room.’ The two men, though separated by at least 20 years in age, shared a bookish, antiquarian relish for the obscure and for out-of-the-way detail. Their imaginations drifted along similar byways and were close enough friends to indulge in a private world of in-jokes.
Blunden’s emotional life during the early twenties was in turmoil, however; his marriage was increasingly troubled and Hodgson became a confidante of both Blunden and his wife Mary helping them find lodgings in Cricklewood, London when they were evicted from their Northampton home. In 1923, their lives became even more entangled. Both men received offers of employment from Japanese Universities. At first Hodgson turned the idea down flat but then turned to Blunden, declaring that if Blunden agreed to go to Tokyo, then he would take up his post, too. Blunden agreed to take the plunge. He went on ahead and when the Hodgson’s arrived at the end of August Blunden was waiting to greet them.
Muriel, unable to locate Hodgson, bombarded Blunden with letters and threats. Following a meeting with her, Blunden wrote to Hodgson: ‘Mrs H. has written to me two or three times but I do not know what I can say that would be of any benefit to either you or her. She says she is without support from you, but I imagine that can only be if you are yourself without means…’
Hodgson, always very touchy where his personal life was concerned, was clearly angry with what he thought were Blunden’s attempts at reconciliation. Muriel then threatened to call Blunden in evidence in a court case she was contemplating to win financial assistance from Hodgson. What’s more, she had letters in which Blunden had mentioned his (secret) female Japanese companion, ‘which she proposes to use, no doubt replies to her own letters but still the obvious means of dragging out much sad fact.’
Blunden made it clear how upset he was at having been drawn in, suffering as he was from the strain of his own marital troubles: ‘I would stay altogether out of the question and would pay for the privilege if I could.’ Hodgson, however, was unforgiving of what he saw as Blunden’s ‘meddling’.
When Hodgson returned to Japan in August 1927 he did not bother to tell Blunden, who commented, ‘RH has disappeared from my world like a rocket. He kept his return very mysterious. He is offended with me but my conscience is clear. He likes, or rather his nature requires, finding offence where only goodness and service was intended. I bless him all the same.’
The following year Blunden published Undertones of War. It was an instant success. ‘The Classic War Book,’ declared the Daily Mirror that December. The first edition sold out in twenty-four hours. A second edition proved insufficient to cope with the demand, and a third edition was soon well underway….’ A reviewer added, ‘Mr. Blunden, who is an old Christ's Hospital boy, told me he wrote the book in Tokio, where he held the post of professor of English.’ Hodgson’s role in the genesis and development of the best-seller was never mentioned.