Brooke, Rupert

Brooke, Rupert, 1887–1915, English poet. At the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Naval Division, served at Antwerp, and was in the Dardanelles expedition when he died of blood poisoning at the island of Skíros. Handsome and athletic, Brooke was also charming, intellectual, and witty, and was universally sought in society. His early fame and tragic death have made him an almost legendary figure. He wrote two small volumes of poetry, Poems (1911) and 1914 and Other Poems (1915). His verse is exuberant and charming, the romantic patriotism of his war sonnets contrasting sharply with the bitter, disillusioned poetry of Owen and Sassoon.

Bibliography

See his letters, ed. by G. Keynes (1968); biographies by A. Stringer (1948, repr. 1972) and C. Hassall (1964, repr. 1972); studies by J. Lehmann (1981) and P. Delany (1987); bibliography by G. Keynes (1954).

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Brooke, Rupert

Rupert Brooke, posthumous portrait drawing by J.H. Thomas; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

(credit: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born Aug. 3, 1887, Rugby, Warwickshire, Eng.—died April 23, 1915, Skyros, Greece) English poet. His best-known work, the sonnet sequence 1914 (1915), which includes the popular poem “The Soldier,” expresses an idealism in the face of death that is in strong contrast to later poetry of trench warfare. His death at age 27 in World War I contributed to his idealized image in the interwar period.

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Brooke, Rupert 

Born Aug. 3, 1887, at Rugby; died Apr. 23, 1915, on the island of Skyros, Greece. English poet. Belonged to the Georgian group of poets.

Brooke studied at Cambridge, where he wrote a research work entitled John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama (published in 1916). His first collection of poetry was published in 1911. Brooke was an organizer of the anthology Georgian Poetry, 1911-1912 (1912). In 1914 he went to war as a volunteer. The sonnet series 1914 and Other Poems (1915) brought fame. It reflected the illusions of patriotic Englishmen who at the beginning of the war failed to understand its imperialistic nature. In its form, Brooke’s poetry continues the romantic traditions of English poetry. He traveled a great deal (Letters From America, 1916, and other works).

WORKS

The Collected Poems. London, 1946.
The Poetical Works. London, 1953.

REFERENCE

Keynes, G. A Bibliography of Rupert Brooke. London, 1954.