The Rainbow

I read a poem written by Leslie Coulson called rainbow. Leslie Coulson was a journalist and poet in the 1800's. He was also a solider in the first world war. He fought in the battles of Gallipoli and the Western Front. Coulson was born in Kilburn, England in 1889. He was sent to war in 1914 on Christmas Eve. He wrote his poem "The Rainbow" about his experience in the war. This poem gives great detail about what he was seeing and how he was feeling. He uses similes and metaphors to grab your attention. He uses a lot of adjectives to describe the horrifying things around him. He also uses repetition with the line "I thank the gods that ... are beautiful still." This line is really deep because he is saying that even though all these bad things are happening around him he thanks god that there is something beautiful that he can still look at. This poem is in a book that his father published after Coulson died in 1916.

Coulson wrote "The Rainbow" on August 8, 1916. He soon died on October 8, 1916 by a gun shot in his heart. The book that his father published was of Coulson's best work it was called From the Outpost and Other Poems. It sold 10,000 copies by 1917.


This is Leslie Coulson

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rainbow-3/ if you would like to read "The Rainbow" here is a link to his poem. It is really moving and has great wording. I would recommend clicking on it.