R Brooke read by Classic Poetry Aloud:

http://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/

Giving voice to the poetry of the past.

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The Hill

by Rupert Brooke (1887 – 1915)

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.

First aired: 30 July 2007

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