Jessie Pope facts for kids

Jessie Pope (born March 18, 1868 – died December 14, 1941) was an English poet, writer, and journalist. She is most famous for her patriotic poems. These poems were published during World War I and encouraged young men to join the army.

Some famous war poets, like Wilfred Owen, wrote poems that disagreed with her views. Over time, Jessie Pope's fame has faded. Meanwhile, poets like Owen and Siegfried Sassoon became more well-known for their poems about the harsh realities of war.

Early Life and Writing Career

Jessie Pope was born in Leicester, England. She went to school at North London Collegiate School. She became a regular writer for popular newspapers and magazines. These included Punch, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express. She also wrote for other magazines like Vanity Fair.

Helping a New Writer

Jessie Pope also helped discover a famous book. After writer Robert Tressell died, his daughter told Pope about his book. The book was called The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Pope thought it was important. She suggested it to her publisher. She then helped make the book shorter for publication. This helped the story reach many readers.

Other Poems and Books

Before the war, Pope wrote many other things. In 1907, she published Paper Pellets. This was a collection of funny poems. She also wrote poems for children's books. One example is The Cat Scouts from 1912. She even wrote a poem to remember her friend, Bertram Fletcher Robinson.

Poems About War

Jessie Pope's war poems first appeared in The Daily Mail newspaper. These poems encouraged young men to join the army. They also supported the idea of giving a white feather to young men who did not enlist. A white feather was a symbol of not being brave.

Today, many people see these poems as very nationalistic. They have simple rhythms and rhymes. Pope often used questions to try and convince young men to fight.

A Typical War Poem

Here is a small part from her poem Who's for the Game?:

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,
The red crashing game of a fight?
Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?
And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?

Other poems, like The Call (1915), had similar messages. For example, it asked, "Who’s for the trench – Are you, my laddie?"

Pope's poems were very popular during the war. Besides newspapers, she published three books of her war poems. These included Jessie Pope's War Poems (1915) and Simple Rhymes for Stirring Times (1916).

Different Views on War

Jessie Pope's poems were very different from those of soldier poets. Poets like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon wrote about the terrible side of war. Many soldiers found Pope's poems upsetting.

Wilfred Owen's famous poem Dulce et Decorum Est was a direct answer to her writing. He first dedicated it "To Jessie Pope etc." This shows how strongly he felt about her views.

Pope is remembered for her pro-war poems. She also represents other women who supported the war effort from home. These women included writers and entertainers. Her poem "War Girls" showed how women were stepping up. It said they would "keep their end up" while the soldiers were away.

Looking at Her Work Again

Today, Jessie Pope's war poems are often studied in schools. They are compared to the works of the soldier poets. This comparison often makes her pro-war poems seem less powerful.

Some people are now looking at her work in a new way. They see her as someone who wrote about women working. This was new for her time. Even though her war poems are criticized, her earlier work was often humorous. She was even called the "foremost woman humourist" of her time. Her poems sometimes showed sympathy for poor people. They also encouraged women to be strong and independent.

Later Life

After World War I ended, Jessie Pope kept writing. She wrote a short novel and more poems. Many of these poems still talked about the war and what happened afterward. She also wrote books for children.

In 1929, when she was 61, she married a bank manager. She moved from London to Fritton, near Great Yarmouth. Jessie Pope passed away in December 1941 in Devon.