born Aug. 3, 1887, Rugby, Warwickshire, Eng.
died April 23, 1915, Skyros, Greece
English poet.
His best-known work, the sonnet sequence 1914 (1915), which includes the popular poem "The Soldier," expresses an idealism in the face of death that is in strong contrast to later poetry of trench warfare. His death at age 27 in World War I contributed to his idealized image in the interwar period.
Rupert Brooke, posthumous portrait drawing by J.H. Thomas; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London