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Saturday 10 September 2011

Poetry from WWII - A soldier's letters to his wife

Pin It I recently came across these letters my grandfather wrote for my grandmother while he was away in World War II.  I was amazed to discover what a poet he was, another artist in my family, another affirmation that I am on the right path.


Here are some images, scans I took of the very old paper, thick and creased as it has been probably since he stuffed it in an envelope and sent it across the seas to comfort the love he'd left behind:



"Stealing Through My Heart"

Stealing through my heart
I feel a memory of you
Stealing through my dreams
I see the happiness we knew

Through my every slumber
I see a moon above
I hold you close and whisper
To you again of love

Gently through my ears
I can hear you breathe my name,
The loneliness I fell goes on
seeping through my brain 

But though we are apart
I will remember you
For you seem to keep on stealing through my heart
Stealing through my heart



Isn't it beautiful???  I think it could definitely be a song on the radio...

His hand written note goes on to say:

PS:  I wanted to tell you how much I love & miss you but I just couldn't find the words so I thought I would dash off this little ditty to you.  I am sorry I did not have time to fit them to a song & they are not quite complete enough for me to try a melody of my own but anyway that expresses the exact way I feel about you. 


Your Ever Worshiping Husband, 
Ian

awwwww

PPS:  I had the letter all sealed before I wrote this, so you can see I didn't have much time to think about it.  I just got the idea because I found you "Stealing through my heart".  Ian.

Double awww.  Wasn't he amazing? (gush!)

From what I remember of their relationship, they used to argue all the time, but it always seemed clear to me that they cared deeply about each other, which I think was made apparent by the fact that after more than 50 years of marriage, they died less than one year apart.  It's nice to know that they were once young and very much in love.


Here's a pic of my grandmother, still pretty young, her hair all blond...

Florence Stevenson
"a.k.a. Nanny"






I have more treasures to share with you, so make sure to check back soon to read more beautiful poetry from WWII.


Much Love, 
Felicia  


2 comments:

  1. Hey Baby,

    I'm so thrilled you posted this poem of Grandpa's. I knew he wrote poetry, but I had no idea he wrote songs. That's too cool. He also sang. Nanny also played piano by ear, My mom was a great dancer, singer, and painter, and your dad played drums as you know, so yes, you come from a family of many artists.

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  2. I dont know why I didn't see this comment before, but thank you Diana, I didn't know some of those things. The blood line doesn't stop there though, as there are many artists on my mother's side as well!

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