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The Call

By Rupert Brooke

Topics: classic

Out of the nothingness of sleep,     The slow dreams of Eternity,     There was a thunder on the deep:     I came, because you called to me.     I broke the Night's primeval bars,     I dared the old abysmal curse,     And flashed through ranks of frightened stars     Suddenly on the universe!     The eternal silences were broken;     Hell became Heaven as I passed.     What shall I give you as a token,     A sign that we have met, at last?     I'll break and forge the stars anew,     Shatter the heavens with a song;     Immortal in my love for you,     Because I love you, very strong.     Your mouth shall mock the old and wise,     Your laugh shall fill the world with flame,     I'll write upon the shrinking skies     The scarlet splendour of your name,     Till Heaven cracks, and Hell thereunder     Dies in her ultimate mad fire,     And darkness falls, with scornful thunder,     On dreams of men and men's desire.     Then only in the empty spaces,     Death, walking very silently,     Shall fear the glory of our faces     Through all the dark infinity.     So, clothed about with perfect love,     The eternal end shall find us one,     Alone above the Night, above     The dust of the dead gods, alone.

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"Out of the nothingness of sleep,..."

"The Call" is a quintessential example of Rupert Brooke's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Rupert Brooke

"Out of the nothingness of sleep,..." by Rupert Brooke

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Rupert Brooke

About Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke (1887–1915) was an English war poet whose sonnets—including "The Soldier" ("If I should die, think only this of me")—idealized the sacrifice of war. He died of sepsis en route to Gallipoli and became a symbol of the lost generation of WWI.

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