Dead Men's Love

Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)




There was a damned successful Poet;
 There was a Woman like the Sun.
And they were dead.  They did not know it.
 They did not know their time was done.
    They did not know his hymns
    Were silence; and her limbs,
    That had served Love so well,
    Dust, and a filthy smell.

And so one day, as ever of old,
 Hands out, they hurried, knee to knee;
On fire to cling and kiss and hold
 And, in the other's eyes, to see
    Each his own tiny face,
    And in that long embrace
    Feel lip and breast grow warm
    To breast and lip and arm.

So knee to knee they sped again,
 And laugh to laugh they ran, I'm told,
Across the streets of Hell . . .
                                  And then
 They suddenly felt the wind blow cold,
    And knew, so closely pressed,
    Chill air on lip and breast,
    And, with a sick surprise,
    The emptiness of eyes.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 06, 2023

47 sec read
57

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXABBCC DEDEFFXX GDCGDHHII
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 841
Words 155
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 9

Rupert Brooke

Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". more…

All Rupert Brooke poems | Rupert Brooke Books

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    Lewis Carroll wrote: "You are old father William, the young man said..."
    A "and your hair has become very white"
    B "and you're going to die tonight"
    C "and your eyes have become less bright"
    D "and you seem to have lost your sight"