Philip Johnson WWI Poet

There is a most beautiful walk from Steyning and the First World War poet Philip Johnson wrote this about it:

I can't forget the lane that goes from Steyning to the Ring In summer time, and on the Down how larks and linnets sing High in the sun. The wind comes off the sea, and Oh the air! I never knew till now that life in old days was so fair. But now I know it in this filthy rat infested ditch When every shell may spare or kill - and God alone knows which. And I am made a beast of prey, and this trench is my lair My God! I never knew till now that those days were so fair. So we assault in half an hour, and - it's a silly thing - I can't forget the narrow lane to Channonbury Ring. Philip Johnson (John Stanley) For a long time I have been interested in First World War Poets and Poetry and have collected several WWI books of poetry.  Wilfred Owens, Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon and others and now this poet. The Steyning Poem Christy