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.

Rupert Brooke, 1910

Back to Index