The Spectator at war: Where men with splendid hearts may go

From ‘Rupert Brooke’, The Spectator, 1 May 1915:

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Jim Lawley

Spain’s expat tax won’t last long

TO all men there is attractiveness in the combination of the soldier and the poet, and perhaps the combination gives a more satisfying pleasure to the countrymen of Sir Philip Sidney than to any other race. This is the reason why thousands of Englishmen mourn for Rupert Brooke who never knew him, and possibly, till a few days ago, never heard of him. They read the brief details of his life and accomplishment, and at once their sorrow was real and, in a sense, personal. Rupert Brooke was distinctly one of the most promising of our poets. He had fire, imagination, a joy in life, a classical taste, an Hellenic eye for beauty and grace. As in the case of Donne, whom he greatly admired, his poetry was weighted by his intellect, and sometimes seemed harsh and knotty.