Breathless, we flung us on the windy hill,
   Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass.
   You said, "Through glory and ecstasy we pass;
Wind, sun, and earth remain, the birds sing still,
When we are old, are old. . . ." "And when we die
   All's over that is ours; and life burns on
Through other lovers, other lips," said I,
---"Heart of my heart, our heaven is now, is won!"

"We are Earth's best, that learnt her lesson here.
   Life is our cry. We have kept the faith!" we said;
   "We shall go down with unreluctant tread
Rose-crowned into the darkness!" . . . Proud we were,
And laughed, that had such brave true things to say.
---And then you suddenly cried, and turned away.

Back to Rupert Brooke poems: 1908-1911...

Page last updated: 7 September 1998 ©1998-1999, Richard J. Yanco