Forever England by Mike Read Read Free Book Online

rock J. K. fell from pocket into swirling flood beneath; and, ere aught could be done, was borne from reach on swift current. We rushed to the harbour, chartered a boat, and rowed frantically along the rocky coast in search of it. The sea was —. At length we spied it close in, by treacherous rocks – in a boat we could not get to it alive. We beached our barque (at vast risk) half a mile down the coast and leapt lightly over vast boulders to the spot … I cast off my garb, and plunged wholly naked into that ‘fury of black waters and white foam’ – Enough. J. K. was rescued, in a damaged condition.
    Four years later he discovered that Lulworth was the last place in England that Keats had been to, before going to Italy. Brooke’s stay at Lulworth inspired five untitled verses, which feel as if they should be sung. Again one feels the influence of Belloc creeping in.
    Verse I
    Oh give our love to Lulworth Cove
    And Lulworth Cliffs and sea
    Oh! Lulworth Down! Oh! Lulworth Down!
    (The name appeals to me)
    If we were with you today in Lulworth
    How happy we should be!
    Verse II
    The Lulworth Downs are large and high
    And honourable things
    There we should lie (old Hugh and I!)
    On the tombs of the old sea kings;
    If you lie up there, with your face on the grass
    You can hear their whisperings
    Verse III
    And each will sigh for the good day light
    And for all his ancient bliss
    Red wine, and the fight, song by night
    Are the things they chiefly miss
    And one, I know (for he told me so)
    Is sick for a dead lad’s kiss
    Verse IV
    Ah! they’re fair to be back or many things
    But mainly (they whisper) these;
    England and April (the poor dead kings!)
    And the purple touch of the trees
    And the women of England, and English springs
    And the scent of English seas
    Verse V
    But a lad like you, what has he to do
    With the dead, be they living or dead
    And their whims and tears for what can’t be theirs?
    Live you in their silly stead
    With a smile and a song for the live and strong
    And a sigh for the poor old dead
    Verses VI to LX
    Still simmering
    On 8 July he wrote ‘Pine Trees and the Sky: Evening’, while at Lulworth.
    Pine Trees and the Sky: Evening
    I’d watched the sorrow of the evening sky,
    And smelt the sea, and earth, and the warm clover,
    And heard the waves, and the seagull’s mocking cry.
    And in them all was only the old cry,
    That song they always sing – ‘The best is over!
    You may remember now, and think, and sigh,
    O silly lover!’
    And I was tired and sick that all was over,
    And because I,
    For all my thinking, never could recover
    One moment of the good hours that were over.
    And I was sorry and sick, and wished to die.
    Then from the sad west turning wearily,
    I saw the pines against the white north sky,
    Very beautiful, and still, and bending over,
    Their sharp black heads against a quiet sky.
    And there was peace in them; and I
    Was happy, and forgot to play the lover,
    And laughed, and did no longer wish to die;
    Being glad of you, O pine-trees and the sky!
    After Lulworth, Rupert headed up to the Russell-Smiths at Brockenhurst, writing from there to St John Lucas, on 4 August. He again affected a different stance and writing style, attempting to convey a world-weariness beyond his years. He clearly adored the Russell-Smiths, but wrote with obvious exaggeration and suitable embellishment:
    Now I am staying with this foolish family again till about next Saturday. They are delightful, and exactly as they were last year … A few days ago they found I was exactly twenty; and congratulated me on my birthday, giving me a birthday cake, and such things. I hated them, and lost my temper. I am now in the depths of despondency because of my age. I am filled with a hysterical despair to think of fifty dull years more. I hate myself and everyone. I have written almost no verse for ages; I shall never write any more … The rest are coming back from