Alan Alexander Milne

Alan Alexander Milne, best known as A.A. Milne, was an English author, primarily known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie the Pooh. Born in London, he was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Milne served in both World Wars and initially earned recognition as a playwright and screenwriter before achieving lasting fame for his children’s stories. His charming tales of the Hundred Acre Wood have remained beloved classics for generations.

January 18, 1882

January 31, 1956

English

From A Full Heart

In days of peace my fellow-men
    Rightly regarded me as more like
A Bishop than a Major-Gen.,
    And nothing since has made me warlike;
But when this age-long struggle ends
    And I have seen the Allies dish up
The goose of Hindenburg - oh, friends!
    I shall out-bish the mildest Bishop.

When the War is over and the Kaiser's out of print
I'm going to buy some tortoises and watch the beggars sprint;
When the War is over and the sword at last we sheathe
I'm going to keep a jelly-fish and listen to it breathe.

I never really longed for gore,
    And any taste for red corpuscles
That lingered with me left before
    The German troops had entered Brussels.
In early days the Colonel's "'Shun!"
    Froze me; and as the war grew older

Alan Alexander Milne