The Life That I Have
Encyclopedia
The Life That I Have is a short poem written by Leo Marks
and used as a poem code
in the Second World War.
In the war, famous poems were used to encrypt messages. This was, however, found to be insecure because enemy cryptanalysts were able to locate the original from published sources. Marks countered this by using his own written creations. The Life That I Have was an original poem composed on Christmas Eve 1943 and was originally written by Marks in memory of his girlfriend Ruth, who had just died in a plane crash in Canada. On 24 March 1944, the poem was issued by Marks to Violette Szabo
, a French agent of Special Operations Executive
who was eventually captured, tortured and killed by the Nazis.
It was made famous by its inclusion in the 1958 movie about Szabo, Carve Her Name with Pride
, where the poem was said to be the creation of Violette's husband Etienne. In her 2002 biography Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have, author Susan Ottaway asserted that the poem was actually written for the 1958 movie.
On July 31, 2010, the poem was read at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton
.
The text of the poem reads as follows:
Leo Marks
Leopold Samuel Marks was an English cryptographer, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:Born the son of an antiquarian bookseller in London, he was first introduced to cryptography when his father showed him a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The Gold-Bug"...
and used as a poem code
Poem code
The poem code is a simple, and insecure, cryptographic method.The method works by the sender and receiver pre-arranging a poem to use. The sender chooses a set number of words at random from the poem and gives each letter in the chosen words a number. The numbers are then used as a key for some...
in the Second World War.
In the war, famous poems were used to encrypt messages. This was, however, found to be insecure because enemy cryptanalysts were able to locate the original from published sources. Marks countered this by using his own written creations. The Life That I Have was an original poem composed on Christmas Eve 1943 and was originally written by Marks in memory of his girlfriend Ruth, who had just died in a plane crash in Canada. On 24 March 1944, the poem was issued by Marks to Violette Szabo
Violette Szabo
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo, GC, was a Second World War French-British secret agent.-Early life and marriage:...
, a French agent of Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
who was eventually captured, tortured and killed by the Nazis.
It was made famous by its inclusion in the 1958 movie about Szabo, Carve Her Name with Pride
Carve Her Name with Pride
Carve Her Name with Pride is a 1958 British drama film based on the book of the same name by R.J. Minney. Set during World War II, the film is based on the true story of the heroism of Special Operations Executive agent Violette Szabo, with Virginia McKenna in the lead role.The film includes the...
, where the poem was said to be the creation of Violette's husband Etienne. In her 2002 biography Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have, author Susan Ottaway asserted that the poem was actually written for the 1958 movie.
On July 31, 2010, the poem was read at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
.
The text of the poem reads as follows:
- The life that I have
- Is all that I have
- And the life that I have
- Is yours
- The love that I have
- Of the life that I have
- Is yours and yours and yours
- A sleep I shall have
- A rest I shall have
- Yet death will be but a pause
- For the peace of my years
- In the long green grass
- Will be yours and yours
- And yours