Rupert
Brooke is one of the best known of the poets of the
First World War though now probably overtaken by Wilfred
Owen. Brooke was born on 3 August 1887 the son of
a master at Rugby, where he attended school. He was
good at games and a good scholar. In 1906 he won a
scholarship to Cambridge and shortly after fell in
love with the young Noel Olivier though he found time
for other romances and writing poetry.
In
1912 he wrote one of his most famous poems, 'The Old
Vicarage Grantchester', while in Berlin, merely
one stop on extensive travels that often left him
tired or ill. Edward Marsh, who published Brooke's
poems, introduced him to Herbert Asquith and to Winston
Churchill and through influence got Brooke a Commission
as a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Division.
When
Brooke heard that the Division was to leave for the
Dardanelles he was thrilled, it was for him a Classical
dream come true and on 28 February 1915 he set sail
for Gallipoli.
He
never got there. On 23 April he died en-route from
blood poisoning and was buried on Skyros where there
is today a memorial marker over his grave.
In
The Times of 26 April Winston Churchill wrote,
'.......he was all that one would wish England's noblest
sons to be ...'.
In
our book we include Brooke's last poem, tell the story
of his love affair with Noel Olivier and the tragic
account of his last days on board ship.
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