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A Man of Yet a Few More Words - by Swan Morrison


Statue of Rupert Brooke in the grounds
of the Old Vicarage in Grantchester,
near Cambridge, England

A former residence of Brooke and
the current home of Jeffrey Archer

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The Soldier? (Poem)

Of Rupert Brooke, scant knowledge I possessed:
I thought he'd died with pen and gun in hand,
Wrote verse while digging trenches. And, I guessed,
Expressed the horrors seen in No Man’s Land.
But sepsis from a Greek mosquito's bite
Despatched him early, so he never saw
The battles Owen and Sassoon would fight -
Hence Brooke idealised life lost in war.

When Dean, Monroe and Lady Di had passed,
An icon status grew from public need.
Thus Brooke lent those who fell a face and voice.
This handsome, troubled soul could be ranked last
For epithet of 'war poet' to cede.
Might 'Pre-war poet' be the soldier's choice?

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Poems by Rupert Brooke:

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Photographs © Swan Morrison