1914 and Other Poems.

BROOKE, Rupert.

Item Number: 136325

London: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1915.

First edition of Brooke’s immensely popular second book; his most famous collection of poetry which reached its 24th impression in June 1918. Octavo, original cloth, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Brooke. In fine condition. Housed in a custom slipcase.

Brooke entered Cambridge in 1906 where he became a visible figure in English intellectual circles, becoming acquainted with Virginia Woolf, writer Lytton Strachey, economist John Maynard Keynes, and William Butler Yeats who described him as "the handsomest young man in England." Between his graduation from Cambridge in 1909 and the start of World War I in 1914, he became associated with the Georgian poets; whose verse reflected an idealistic preoccupation with rural, youthful motifs. Brooke enlisted at the outbreak of war in August 1914. He came to public attention as a war poet early the following year, when The Times Literary Supplement published two sonnets ("IV: The Dead" and "V: The Soldier") on March 11th; the latter was then read from the pulpit of St Paul's Cathedral on Easter Sunday. Brooke's most famous collection of poetry, containing all five sonnets, 1914 & Other Poems, was first published in May 1915 and, in testament to his popularity, ran to 11 further impressions that year and by June 1918 had reached its 24th impression; a process undoubtedly fueled through posthumous interest.