PoetryFree BooksAuthors

The Dead (III)

by Rupert Brooke
From The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke (1915)

Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
 There's none of these so lonely and poor of old,
 But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
 Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
 That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.

Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth,
 Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
Honour has come back, as a king, to earth,
 And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
 And we have come into our heritage.

This poem is in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.

More poems by Rupert Brooke

Keep reading

📰 From our blog: reading tips

📝

Famous Children’s Books Every Kid Should Read (and Which Are Free)

Read →
📝

What to Read: A Guide to the World’s Classics, Country by Country

Read →
📝

What to Read for Russian Classics: Where to Start, Reading Order & Free Books

Read →
📝

What to Read for British Classics: Where to Start, Reading Order & Free Books

Read →

All reading tips & book lists →