Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Hill - Rupert Brooke

Wow.  I just love Brooke's stuff.  He and I definitely disagree at times in worldview, but I find his poetry so powerful and beautiful.  Here, he conveys the shortcomings inherent in the "carpe diem" view of romance -- it seems all very bold and passionate to say "Today is all we have -- let's make the most of it", but in the end such a view of life is so dissatisfying and ultimately hopeless.  Whether or not Brooke actually agreed with his speakers in this poem, he certainly recognized the tragic nature of such a worldview.

The Hill

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.

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