Rupert Brooke, “The Soldier”

If I should die, think only this of me:
     That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
     In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
     Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
     Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
     A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
          Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
     And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
          In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke, 1887-1915 – “The Soldier” from Collected Poems

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3 responses

  1. luisa zambrotta Avatar
    luisa zambrotta

    A great poem… even if war is not such a heroic act

    Liked by 2 people

  2. Tim Miller Avatar
    Tim Miller

    I’ve got great sympathy especially for the WW1 generation, the last one to march off to war thinking it was something romantic. But unfortunately, one of Cormac McCarthy’s characters seems to get it right about war (and the words ‘man’ and ‘men’ are just as unfortunately appropriate):

    “It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.”

    Liked by 1 person

  3. luisa zambrotta Avatar
    luisa zambrotta

    This is a wise and profound reflection.
    Thank you very much for sharing it🙏

    Liked by 1 person

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#230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic – Human Voices Wake Us

An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Browsing through either puts you in contact with our best stories and, with the Taschen book, some of our best artwork.Next, I read Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) apocalyptic poem Darkness from 1816. You can read more about the volcanic eruption that inspired poem, and produced the “year without summer,” here.Finally, I read a few passages on revelation and the religious experience from the rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist Abraham Joshua Heshel’s (1907-1962) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.
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