Rupert Brooke's Life, his world and his poetry

It is fair to say that during his short stay on this world, Rupert Brooke lived quite a full life, from sailing the high seas in search of adventure after leaving University, and falling in love with a Tahitian girl, to being described as the "handsomest man in England" in his days as a roving romantic poet, to his untimely death in a soldier's uniform on the Greek island of Skyros in April, 1915.

Add to this a relatively large body of over 100 poems, ranging from the utterly romantic i.e. "Dust" to the overtly patriotic (some would say sacrificial) "The Soldier" that describe his thoughts, feelings and overall existence far better than any biography can, and you have a profile of a young man who inhabited the mould of a romantic poet that ranks alongside the likes of Shelley and Byron in terms of the romantic poet ideal.

In this section, I will try to provide a background to Brooke's poetry and life to further illuminate an understanding and reading of his poems, from features on the places where he inhabited on a daily basis, to summaries of his professional and personal relationships with colleagues and lovers to be, and lastly to the events and key characters surrounding his death in 1915.

I hope you enjoy this section, please feel free to contact me if there is anything you think I may have missed that should be included.

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