Robert Ernest Vernède

Robert Ernest Vernède (1875–1917) was born in London on 4 June 1875, of French descent, and was educated at St Paul's School and St John's College, Oxford. He settled in Hertfordshire and made his living as a writer, publishing novels such as The Pursuit of Mr. Faviell (1905) and Meriel of the Moors (1906) and a travel book, An Ignorant in India.

Although he was past the age for service, he enlisted as a private in the Royal Fusiliers in September 1914 and later received a commission in the Rifle Brigade. He was mortally wounded leading his platoon in an attack on Havrincourt Wood on 9 April 1917. War Poems and Other Verses, with an introductory note by Edmund Gosse, appeared after his death; the poems here are taken from the American edition of 1920.