In the First World War/ Great War literature and culture, trench warfare came to be regarded as a powerful symbol of the futility of war. It would not be erroneous to observe that the entrenched soldiers of the Great War c ould mostly wait for annihilation and fight against boredom and fatigue, and do almost nothing else. Jünger and Remarque have already focussed on the atmosphere of attrition and boredom during the trench -warfare-periods of the 1914-18 belligerences. Though tful inclusions in syllabi over the years have considerably acquainted Indians with the (English) poetry of the First World War. However, the writers of ‘trench poetry’ – even if they are from England – are not usually studied at Indian schools and college s. The principal objective of this paper is to very briefly introduce readers to the concept of ‘trench poetry of the First World War ’. And, any reading of First World War-literature is likely to remain incomplete without reference to trench-writings becau se the European trenches extended for five hundred miles as soon as combat began. Key-words: Trenches, Great War, Poetry , Annihilation, Fatigue, Boredom Though the usage of trenches as a part of strategic defence was arguably first used by the Roman legi ons during nights to block sudden advancement of enemy lines (Ripley and Dana, 1859. P. 622), the technique of entrenching as a form of defence first matured during the First World War/Great War (1914-18), when both the Central Alliance (Germany, Austria -Hungary, and Page 84  Labyrinth : ISSN 0976-0814 (Vol.8 - No.2, July 2017) Turkey) and Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia/U.S.A.) combatants dug themselves in deeply on the Western Front from September 1914 onwards (Ellis, 1976. P. 10). However, as Michael Hanson (Wallace, 2005, p. 29) or William Philpott (Liddle, 2016, p. 53) note, engagements at Verdun (February - December 1916), the Somme (July -November 1916), and Passchendaele (July -November 1917) demonstrated that personnel from both the confronting sides remained overwhelmingly vulnerable to enemy -projectiles even after the adoption of this particular form of warfare. In fact, in the Great War literature and culture, trench warfare soon came to be regarded as a powerful symbol of the futility of war (Griffith, 1996, p. 4), where, under the command of inefficien t generals, the Anglo-French personnel (and, in extension, the Germans and the Austro -Hungarians too) were no better than ‘lions led by donkeys’ (ibid. 5 -6). It would not be, therefore, erroneous to observe that the entrenched soldiers of the Great War cou ld mostly wait for annihilation and fight against boredom and fatigue. In publications like Storm of Steel (1920) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), Jünger (1895-1998) and Remarque (1898- 1970) focus especially on this atmosphere of attrition and boredom during the trench -warfare-periods of the first global confrontation. Thoughtful inclusions in syllabi over the years have considerably acquainted Indians with the poetry of the First World War. The names of ‘Rupert Brooke’ (1887-1915), ‘Edward Thomas’ (1878-1917), ‘Siegfried Sassoon ’ (1886-1967), ‘Wilfred Owen’ (1893-1918), and ‘Robert Graves ’ (1895-1985) are no longer alien to Indian researchers, though – sadly – the names of German combatant-poets of the two World Wars as well as those of the gener al soldier-poets of the Second World War are areas mostly neglected. Similarly, the writers of ‘trench poetry’ – even if they are from England – are not usually studied at Indian schools and colleges. The principal objective of this paper is to very briefly introduce readers to the concept of ‘trench poetry of Pinaki Roy  Page 85 the First World War ’. And, any reading of First World War - literature is likely to remain incomplete without reference to trench-writings because, as Trudi Tate notes, the European trenches extended fo r five hundred miles as soon as combat began (McLoughlin, 2009, p. 163). Tate also men