The Unutterable Beauty by G. A. Studdert Kennedy
"The Unutterable Beauty" is a significant poetry collection by G. A. Studdert Kennedy, who served as a chaplain in the British forces during World War I. Known affectionately as "Woodbine Willie," he gained recognition not only for his bravery on the battlefield but also for his unique poetic voice that resonated with the common soldiers. This collection stands out among wartime literature for its heartfelt exploration of themes such as suffering, compassion, and the human condition, particularly in the context of the horrors experienced during trench warfare.
The poetry is categorized into three sections: reflections on wartime experiences, general themes shaped by those experiences, and dialect poems that convey the soldiers' perspectives. Studdert Kennedy's writing challenges traditional church teachings about God’s impassibility, instead positing a theology that emphasizes divine suffering alongside humanity. His verses celebrate common soldiers' bravery and loyalty while also critiquing societal norms and the establishment, revealing a deep empathy for the struggles they faced.
Kennedy's work emphasizes the interconnectedness of faith and doubt, presenting a theology rooted in emotional experience and advocating for social justice. Through its accessible language and poignant insights, "The Unutterable Beauty" continues to resonate with readers, showcasing the power of poetry as a medium for both reflection and advocacy.
On this Page
The Unutterable Beauty by G. A. Studdert Kennedy
First published: 1927
Edition(s) used:The Unutterable Beauty: The Collected Poetry. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1964
Genre(s): Poetry
Subgenre(s): Lyric poetry; narrative poetry
Core issue(s): Alienation from God; compassion; the cross; good vs. evil; Incarnation; suffering
Overview
World War I generated a great deal of literature, much of it detailing the horrors of the trench fighting in northern France. Best known is the verse of poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg, and Rupert Brook. However, many other poets wrote verse that was probably more popular at the time but less literary and therefore was not anthologized in later collections.
One such poet was G. A. Studdert Kennedy, better known as “Woodbine Willie” by the troops. He was a chaplain with the British forces in Flanders from 1915 to 1919 and, during that time, received the Military Cross for his bravery under fire in rescuing wounded men at Messines Ridge. His first volume of poetry, Rough Rhymes of a Padre (1918). was a collection of verse that had appeared in magazines and newspapers during the war. This was followed by Peace Rhymes of a Padre (1920) and Songs of Faith and Doubt (1922). However, the volume that was to become his most popular, selling by the thousands for years after, was The Unutterable Beauty.
His early life does not seem to have given him any preparation for ministering to common soldiers under fire. His father was a vicar in the Church of England of St. Mary’s, Quarry Hill, Leeds, in Yorkshire. Studdert Kennedy attended a prestigious school, Leeds Grammar School, then went to Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, to major in classics and divinity, graduating in 1904. After several years as a schoolteacher, he attended Theological College at Ripon, Yorkshire. He was appointed first as curate of Rugby Parish Church and then, in 1912, of Leeds Parish Church. In 1914 he married Emily Catlow and became vicar of St. Paul’s, Worcester. This training and these appointments were typical of a professional minister of religion within the Church of England.
It was the experience of meeting common soldiers, many of whom had no church connection at all and only a nominal Christian faith, in the shared danger of enemy fire, that completely changed his life. From then on, Studdert Kennedy became a passionate advocate for the common man, and after his demobilization, became heavily involved in various organizations promoting social justice, often working at a political level. His poetry was a by-product of his advocacy of the common man, rather than a second vocation. His best-known postwar activity was setting up the Industrial Christian Fellowship and becoming an itinerant preacher and crusade leader for it. He died in 1929 while participating in a crusade in Liverpool. Archbishop William Temple described him as “the finest priest I have known,” and Studdert Kennedy’s friend, the Reverend Dick Sheppard, called him “the biggest little man of our day,” referring to his small stature.
All of Studdert Kennedy’s poetry is popular, in that it is meant to appeal immediately to the ordinary reader. Its verse form is simple and modeled on traditional forms, using an everyday vocabulary. It is meant to persuade and convince, and it expresses much of his strong feelings for his subject matter. The poetry in The Unutterable Beauty can be divided into three sections. The first consists of poems coming directly out of Studdert Kennedy’s wartime experiences; the second, of more general poems, most generated by convictions and perspectives gained by his wartime experiences; and the third, a series of poems modeled after Rudyard Kipling’s Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses (1892), verse meant to be spoken by common soldiers, using their own dialects of English to put forward their way of seeing the world and particularly the Christian faith.
Studdert Kennedy was particularly impressed by the natural unspoken bravery and loyalty of the common soldiers, even in the most appalling conditions. “Solomon in All His Glory” is such a poem: The ragged uniforms of the soldiers are more beautiful than Solomon’s garments, symbolizing the inner worth of the soldiers. “Non Angli sed Angeli” is another long poem commenting on, among other things, the bravery of the English soldier under fire. This comes out more dramatically in the “Dialect Poems,” the monologue form giving direct voice to the soldiers. “Passing the Love of Women” concerns the comradely love the soldiers had for one another, and “To Stretcher Bearers” suggests the rough but genuine compassion they had for the wounded.
The chaplains were, of course, expected to maintain the status quo of the military hierarchy and the air of patriotism, at the expense of preaching their own convictions. In his poetry, at least, Studdert Kennedy refuses to do this. Some of his poems, such as “Waste,” are as antiestablishment as Wilfred Owen’s. “Dead and Buried” is a passionate political commentary on the betrayal of the Versailles Treaty of 1919. He even mocks the typical chaplain’s sermon, either directly or through the mouth of his soldiers, as in “Well?” In one poem, “Woodbine Willie,” he celebrates his nickname, deriving from a cheap brand of cigarettes issued to the men, Wills’ Woodbines. He always carried packs of these cigarettes around with him to give to the soldiers. In a very real sense, the name gave him a new identity and definition.
However, not all the poems were either theological or related to war. There are a number of poems delighting in nature. Others talk of general social evils and the need to fight these actively or the temptations to the Christian life, especially posed by sex and erotic love.
Christian Themes
The most significant Christian theme that emerges from the volume is that of the suffering of God. The official theology of the Church of England taught the “impassibility” of God, that God was not affected by human emotions and was beyond suffering. Christ had entered into the world and had undergone suffering but was now in glory. Studdert Kennedy violently opposed this view of God. To him, the only Christian answer to the suffering of the soldiers was that God was down there with them, suffering along with them. That was the basis for his theodicy. The many “Calvaries,” roadside crucifixes set up by the Catholic churches, became symbols of this suffering God in Christ. Christ continued to suffer. The “once for all” suffering of Christ at his crucifixion was challenged. It was not “once”; it is always, as Studdert Kennedy makes clear in “The Suffering God.”
The centrality of the cross and its suffering is used to oppose the typical teaching that this is the will of God because it is patriotic. Faith and doubt are closely linked in his poetry: Much received truth is shown to be grossly inadequate; old questions have to be re-posed and new answers found. Studdert Kennedy’s theology is worked out at an emotional level, as in “Tragedy,” “Faith,” and “The Truth of May.” One of his difficulties is maintaining the transcendence of God. His stress on God’s suffering leads him to emphasize his immanence, his presence, even in the fighting men. In a poem such as “Right Is Might,” Christian orthodoxy is strained to its limits. The title poem, “The Unutterable Beauty,” expresses Studdert Kennedy’s belief in the pastoral and prophetic role of his poetry. There is a passionate mysticism in much of his verse.
Sources for Further Study
Edwards, D. “’Woodbine Willie’ Was a True Prophet.” Church Times, June 24, 1983. A modern reassessment of the prophetic role of Studdert Kennedy’s poetry and preaching.
Fuller, Roy. “Woodbine Willie Lives.” In Owls and Artificers: Oxford Lectures in Poetry. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1971. A modern poet revisits Studdert Kennedy’s verse, and reinstates the worth of popular poetry.
Grundy, Michael. A Fiery Glow in the Darkness: Woodbine Willie—Padre and Poet. London: Osborne Books, 1997. The most recent and certainly most detailed biography of Studdert Kennedy. It deals both with the larger-than-life man and his immensely popular poetry.
Purcell, William. Woodbine Willie. Oxford, England: Mowbray, 1983. This is one of Mowbray’s Religious Reprint series, being a reprint of an earlier, but still very useful, biography.