In Retreat

This long poem is written in pen in Ivor Gurney's hand, in a notebook headed 'Poems to Old New England of Ivor Gurney', and is dedicated 'To Staten Island / in the name of Alan Seeger / Walt Whitman / Leo Count Tolstoy', with an explanatory note regarding each of these figures. These poems were written while Gurney was a patient at Stone House, Dartford, Kent, otherwise known as the City of London Mental Hospital.该首长诗由艾弗·格尼（Ivor Gurney）以钢笔亲笔书写，收录于题名为《艾弗·格尼致旧新英格兰诗集》的笔记本中，题献语为“致斯塔滕岛，谨以艾伦·西格（Alan Seeger）、沃尔特·惠特曼（Walt Whitman）与列夫·托尔斯泰伯爵（Leo Count Tolstoy）之名”，并附有针对这三位人物的注释说明。上述诗作创作于格尼入住肯特郡达特福德石屋（Stone House）期间，该院又称伦敦市精神病院。