by Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915)
The soldier
Language: English
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
First published in New Numbers, December 1914
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915), "The soldier", appears in 1914, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882 - 1950), "The soldier", published c1939 [ voice and piano ], from Two Sonnets [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Foote (1853 - 1937), "The soldier", op. 79 (Three Songs) no. 2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gerald Gover (1914 - 1982), "The soldier", published 1962 [ SAB chorus or SB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Gray (1855 - 1935), "The soldier", published <<1967 [ SATB chorus and organ ], from 1914, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "The soldier", 1917-8, published 1918 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Corbett C. Sumsion , "The soldier", <<1936 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Matthijs Vermeulen (1888 - 1967), "The soldier", 1916 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 115