To mark the centenary of the First World War and as part of our ongoing Waterlines project, the Poetry Society and the Canal & River Trust commissioned a new animation of Allen’s poem by artist Linda Hughes. The poem is read by National Theatre actress Olivia Vinall who is a similar age to Marian Allen when she wrote the poem.

‘The Wind on the Downs’, was written by Marian Allen in May 1917. Allen wrote the poem a few days after she heard the tragic news that her fiancé, Arthur Tylston Greg, had been killed in an air battle over France. He was 22 years old.

We have also produced a teaching resource based on Marian Allen’s poem, WWI Poetry and the Home Front, for Primary level or Secondary level.

About Linda Hughes

Linda Hughes studied illustration in Edinburgh and animation at the Royal College of Art, London. Her work has appeared on Channel Four, and she won a Gold Plaque at the Chicago Film Festival for a previous animated film. She co-curated an exhibition at the Poetry Society in 2012, to celebrate 200 years since the birth of Edward Lear, and will shortly finish a completely hand-drawn film about a fairground, for Creative Scotland.