Question

What other titles did Hemingway consider for A Farewell to Arms?

Accepted Answer

Two titles Hemingway considered before settling on A Farewell to Arms are The World’s Room and They Who Get Shot. See the web page link below for more information.

Answer

Bernard Oldsey in "Hemingway's Hidden Craft-The writing of 'A Farewell to Arms'  reveals that Hemingway had written out a list of thirty possible titles, including "A Farewell to Arms."A majority of these thirty three possible titles were from literary sources and almost half of these come from "The Oxford Book of English Verse" 1900, edited by Arthur Quiller Couch. A few striking possiblilites were: "A World to See" anonymous; "Death Once  Dead" by William Drummond; "Late Wisdom" George Crabbe. Of those from other literary sources, "Patriot's Progress" based on Bunyan's "Pilgrim Progress" and "The Sentimental Education of Frederick Henry" based on Flaubert's  "L'Education Sentimentale" are noteworthy.Of those who do not have literary bases like "Love in War" and "Love in Italy" are  plain and simple.Carlos Baker records that Hemingway told his family in December 1928, "that he had lately borrowed its title from that of a poem of George Peele's in 'The Oxford Book of English Verse.'"George Peele's poem "A Farewell to Arms" was published in 1590 and it was attached to his "Polyhymnia"- a commemoration of the tournament held before Queen Elizabeth on her birthday that year. The poem deals with the withdrwal from the Queen's service of the aged Sir Henry Lee.

A Farewell to Arms

What other titles did Hemingway consider for A Farewell to Arms?

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