The Two Lovers
In "Poem [To Margo Heinemann], Cornford writes from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, a soldier, who is increasingly convinced that he will be killed soon. He is writing to his beloved girlfriend back home. She's a political activist who most likely represents Cornford's own girlfriend, Margo Heinemann. As he prepares to face his death in increasingly dangerous battles, the young soldiers reminds his girlfriend of his love for her in possibly the last communication between the two, or at least what he believes to be the last. He attributes all the good and the beautiful and the honorable ideas which are giving him courage to his memory of her.
Sergei Mironovitch Kirov
Kirov is the subject of his self-named poem. He was a noteworthy leader among the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Following his unexpected assassination, Cornford ponders the man's legacy and insists that he not be forgotten, despite the suddenness of his departure. In Cornford's understanding, Kirov's becomes a legacy inspiring justice. In the same way a person is born into blood and panic, Kirov departed from this world. His untimely assassination represents all that is wrong with humans' need to conquer and to destroy.
John Cornford
Some of Cornford's poems, such as his most famous "Full moon at Tierz: before the storming of Huesca," feature no definitive character, leaving the reader to conclude Cornford attributes these words to himself alone. This poem presents Cornford as an observer of the disillusion of reality. As he prepares himself for a particularly gnarly battle, he meditates upon the flow of time and notes how all -- past, present, and future -- seems to blend together for him in this moment. He speaks of his compulsion to participate freely in the future, despite his uncertainty and fear.
