Rupert Brooke
English poet Rupert Brooke (1887–1915) won fame for his idealistic 1914 war sonnets, above all “The Soldier,” and for his early death en route to Gallipoli. A look at his life, poems, style, and reputation.
Theme
youth
3 poems
youth
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Robert Herrick’s To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time is the classic “gather ye rosebuds” carpe diem lyric — a close reading of its imagery, its songlike common meter, and the warning hidden in its final line.
When I Was One-and-Twenty
At twenty-one, the speaker ignores a wise man’s warning not to give his heart away. A year later, heartbroken, he admits the advice was right. A reading of Housman’s folk-song lyric on love, youth, and regret.