Francis Edward Ledwidge was born on 19th August, 1887, in the small village of Janeville in Slane, County Meath, in Ireland to parents that believed strongly in education.

At the age of 5 his father died and the entire family, already desperately poor, were forced into work and by 13 the young Ledwidge took whatever job was to hand—from farm hand to road labourer. Throughout this time he applied himself to his poetry writing whenever and wherever he could. His poems were published on a regular basis from the age of 14 in the Drogheda Independent, his local paper.

Ledwidge was an ardent Nationalist and was well known for his Sinn Fein and trade union activism. This association got him fired from his job at the Slane copper mines, for organising a strike for better working conditions, but prompted his appointment as the Secretary to the Slane branch of the Meath Labour Union.

As a poet Ledwidge found patronage from Lord Dunsany who was well known in literary circles and was offered regular funds if he did not fight in World War I.

Ledwidge was originally opposed to the War but then, seeing the greater injustice of an enslaved Europe, changed his view and enlisted and fought for Lord Dunsany's regiment, part of the 10th Irish Division.

He thrived in the army finding promotion, happy to be serving Ireland and continuing to write but on 31st July 1917, whilst road laying for the Battle of Ypres, a German artillery shell exploded and he was blown to pieces. He was 29.

Francis Ledwidge, the patriot and nationalist, has been called ‘The Soldier Poet’, ‘The Peasant Poet’ and the ‘Poet of the Blackbird’.

1 - The Poetry of Francis Ledwidge - An Introduction

2 - Ireland by Francis Ledwidge

3 - The Call to Ireland by Francis Ledwidge

4 - At Currabwee by Francis Ledwidge

5 - My Mother by Francis Ledwidge

6 - Nocturne by Francis Ledwidge

7 - The Sylph by Francis Ledwidge

8 - Evening in February by Francis Ledwidge

9 - Evening in England by Francis Ledwidge

10 - A Twilight in Middle March by Francis Ledwidge

11 - A Rainy Day in April by Francis Ledwidge

12 - Thoughts at the Trysting Stile by Francis Ledwidge

13 - Evening in May by Francis Ledwidge

14 - Autumn Evening in Serbia by Francis Ledwidge

15 - An Attempt at a City Sunset by Francis Ledwidge

16 - Behind the Closed Eye by Francis Ledwidge

17 - The Visitation of Peace by Francis Ledwidge

18 - To My Best Friend by Francis Ledwidge

19 - In the Dusk by Francis Ledwidge

20 - In a Cafe by Francis Ledwidge

21 - Lady Fair by Francis Ledwidge

22 - Low Moonland by Francis Ledwidge

23 - Old Clo by Francis Ledwidge

24 - The Maid in Low Moonland by Francis Ledwidge

25 - The Weddiing Morning by Francis Ledwidge

26 - To One Weeping by Francis Ledwidge

27 - Youth by Francis Ledwidge

28 - Had I a Golden Pound (After the Irish) by Francis Ledwidge

29 - The Lanawn Shee by Francis Ledwidge

30 - Fairies by Francis Ledwidge

31 - The Little Children by Francis Ledwidge

32 - A Fairy Hunt by Francis Ledwidge

33 - Pan by Francis Ledwidge

34 - The Find by Francis Ledwidge

35 - The Shadow People by Francis Ledwidge

36 - Bound to the Mast by Francis Ledwidge

37 - To One Who Comes Now and Then by Francis Ledwidge

38 - To an Old Quill of Lord Dunsany's by Francis Ledwidge

39 - Lament for the Poets, 1916 by Francis Ledwidge

40 - Waiting by Francis Ledwidge

41 - Lament for Thomas McDonagh by Francis Ledwidge

42 - The Dead Kings by Francis Ledwidge

43 - The Lost Ones by Francis Ledwidge

44 - An Old Pain by Francis Ledwidge

45 - Growing Old by Francis Ledwidge

46 - To One Dead by Francis Ledwidge

47 - Soliloquy by Francis Ledwidge

48 - A Soldier's Grave by Francis Ledwidge

49 - At a Poet's Grave by Francis Ledwidge