ABSTRACT
The four poets dealt with in the preceding chapters are the ones who instantly come to my mind when I am asked, as I am with deplorable frequency, 'Second World War poets? Were there any?'; but there were many other skillful and serious writers producing poetry of lasting value, some of whom have gone on to establish large reputations with their post-war work, others who have remained silent or suffered almost total neglect. Alan Ross and Charles Causley have both continued to publish collections of verse fairly regularly and both have received some specialist and popular recognition, though Ross, it seems to me, has been given less than his due; both served during the war in the Royal Navy and, unlike Roy Fuller, they both experienced combat and, in the case of Alan Ross, a great deal of it.
