The Young Guard

Through a jumble of verses that echo a lost generation, the collection captures the raw turbulence of the First World War as seen through the eyes of schoolboys turned soldiers. The opening poems swing between solemn reverence for fallen comrades and the bitter irony of a cricket match reborn in mud and artillery, grounding the massive conflict in familiar, almost childish, rituals. Hornung’s language is vivid enough to let listeners hear the distant thunder of shells while feeling the quiet tread of a postman's lantern on a war‑scarred lane.

The work moves fluidly from the haunting “Consecration,” a prayer‑like elegy for youth sacrificed on the battlefield, to the sardonic “Lord’s Leave,” where the game of cricket becomes a battlefield metaphor for the absurdities of combat. Interspersed with sketches of schoolyard camaraderie and the lingering ghost of old boys, the poetry paints both the external horrors and the internal resolve that kept spirits alive. Listeners are invited to experience the uneasy blend of nostalgia, bitter humor, and stark observation that defined a generation’s attempt to make sense of chaos.