As far as I have been able to discover, Rodolphe Louis Mégroz was born at 40 Alderney Street, St. George Hanover Square, London, UK, on 2nd August 1891, the eldest child of Swiss-born Rodolphe Frederic Mégroz (c.1855-1899) and his wife Alice Jane (née Bull, 1862-1933), who were married in 1890. After the death of his father, Rodolphe Louis was educated at various institutions, including one of the Gordon Boys Homes.
When he was 17, Rodolphe joined Farrow's Bank as a clerk, learned shorthand and accounts and became a cashier in 1911. He joined up immediately at the outbreak of the First World War and served with the West Yorkshire Regiment as a Lance-Corporal, later becoming a Second Lieutenant. He was at Gallipoli in 1915, taking part in the landings at Suvla Bay. In 1916 he was in Egypt serving as a shorthand writer in the Chief Censor's office. He must have served at some stage on the Western Front because he wrote the following poem in France in 1917:
“Con Amore” written in France in September, 1917 by Rodolphe Louis MEGROZ (though his name is incorrectly spelt in the anthology...)
IF but my love were as my love should be,
And pen a fitting scribe unto my heart,
Even then your praise I could not worthily
In ringing rime chime forth : no earthly art
Could frame the incommunicable worth
That is all yours, purchased with many tears,
And patient bravery, and happiness of earth
Renounced to buy your children's future years.
Then on the little mound your toil made good
Against a merciless tide of circumstance
I'll stand, taking the breath of gratitude
To mind and heart their power to enhance,
That I may reach the ear of future times
And hint my Mother’s worth in these poor rimes.
The world must know your greatness, little Mother !
I will not have it so to be confined
That it should dwell but in the heart of my brother,
My sister's and mine own, and in our mind
Invoke respect, tongue-tied however just.
O Heart ! turn lyre within me ! You are stirred
At her great contemplation, then you must
Shake into song, though be it as a bird
Whose artless iteration of his theme
Makes music without skill, by virtue of
The cherished sweetness of the Spring, his dream
Through bitter Winter. Sing but of her love,
Of her exceeding love, O Heart, then you
May render somewhat of the debt her due.
So great your love is, Mother, it may be
Nor held by words nor compassed by my rime ;
It has o'erwhelmed the wide, disparting sea,
It has assaulted battlemented Time
To keep your guardian spirit round me when
Danger affronted or but lay in lurk
Danger of death in this mad war of men,
Danger of sin in Life's worse war of work
And play, shadow and light, quick tears, brief joys :
You knew Life's sweetness when you gave me birth
And shared my infant bliss in stingless toys,
Alas ! that since then joy has been in dearth
And grief has loosed so many of those tears
Which grew your Faith and Love beyond the years.
I have been exiled now for two long years,
Known many dangers, many pleasant places ;
I have been near to Death just when he rears
With terrible intent, and gazed upon the faces
Of stricken comrades after his dread leap ;
In eastern deserts I have worshipped beauty
Austerely still, where Death and Life to sleep,
And Home is a strange dream, and stranger " Duty " ;
Yet have your mother-hands reached out always
With some sweet draught for Mem'ry ; your pitying
Softened the couch of hardships ; darkest days
Your brightest words did light who knew the sting
Of this cruel war most cruelly deep at heart
Your love to sing then, what an Angel's art !
Stern War has caused my life's frail barque to ride
Some perilous seas of Death, made me warm friends
With cold Privation, and like Dante's guide,
Down doleful, dayless ways where this life ends
And deeds, desires, are woven in hidden looms
That pattern human fate, me has he led
With hand relentless on my hand. 'Mid tombs
My dragging and his careless feet did tread,
Echoing fear about my heart, and then,
With his contempt content, my hand he freed
And left me breathing still the air of men
On this sweet earth. Yet in my daily creed
Shall be deep thanks to War that touched my eyes
With sight to see in you my priceless prize.
The full text of the poem is on pp. 113 – 119 “More songs by the fighting men. Soldier poets; second series Edited by Galloway Kyle, (Erskine Macdonald, London, 1917) and you can read the remainder of the poem here as a free download on Archive:
https://archive.org/details/moresongsbyfight00kyleuoft/page/112/mode/2up
William Galloway Kyle (1875-1967) - Editor of “Poetry Review” Magazine and founder and director of the Poetry Society.
Rodolphe’s WW1 poetry collection was entitled “Personal poems” (Erskine Macdonald, London, 1919), and he had a poem published in Galloway Kyle’s anthology “Soldier Poets: More songs by the Fighting Men” (Erskine Macdonald, London, 1917).
After the First World War ended, Rodolphe married Phyllis D Marks in 1921. He trained as a journalist and wrote numerous books, and stories. After the death of his first wife, Rodolphe married Isabel L Walton. On the 1939 Census they are listed as living in Tufnell Park, Islington, London. During the Second World War, Rodolphe worked for the BBC. Rodolphe died in St. Albans in 1968.
Works by Rodolphe Louis MEGROZ
Personal Poems (1919)
A talk with Joseph Conrad and a criticism of his mind and method (1926)
The Three Sitwells; a biographical and critical study (1927)
Francis Thompson: The Poet of Earth in Heaven. A Study in Poetic Mysticism and the Evolution of Love-Poetry (1927) (Faber & Gwyer)
Ronald Ross, discoverer and creator (1931)
Rhys Davies. A Critical Sketch (1932)
The Lear Omnibus (1938)
The Real Robinson Crusoe (1939)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painter poet of heaven in earth
Profile Art Through the Ages: A Study of the Use and significance of Profile and Silhouette from the Stone Age to Puppet Films
Shakespeare as a Letter Writer and Artist in Prose
Walter de la Mare: A Biography and Critical Study (1972)
Sources: Find my Past, FreeBMD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._L._M%C3%A9groz
https://bearalley.blogspot.com/2009/09/rodolphe-louis-megroz.html
https://bearalley.blogspot.com/2006/10/
Catherine W. Reilly, “English Poetry of the First World War: A Bibliography” (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1978), p p.18 and 222
“More songs by the fighting men. Soldier poets; second series” Edited by Galloway Kyle, (Erskine Macdonald, London, 1917), pp. 113 – 119
