That Cursed Wood
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson British
Not on view
That Cursèd Wood portrays the horrific destruction of nature, and, by extension, of humanity, on the Western Front. Bleak and war-torn, this no-man’s-land is scarred by shells and punctuated by seared and mangled trees resembling grave markers. Above the pockmarked surface fly several airplanes that resemble giant insects or birds. The title derives from the 1916 poem "At Carnoy" by British writer and soldier Siegfried Sassoon, which tells of a brigade "crouched among thistle-tufts" as twilight fades. Despite the surroundings, the exhausted soldiers attempt to rest in preparation for the next day: "To-morrow we must go / To take some cursèd Wood . . . O world God made!"
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