Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley (19 May 1895 – 13 October 1915) was a British poet of World War I. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was the son of William Ritchie Sorley. He was educated, like Siegfried Sassoon, at Marlborough College (1908–13). At Marlborough College Sorley's favourite pursuit was cross-country running in the rain, a theme evident in many of his pre-war poems, including "Rain" and "The Song of the Ungirt Runners". Before taking up a scholarship to study at University College, Oxford, Sorley studied in Schwerin, Germany, up to the outbreak of World War I. After a brief detention in Trier, Sorley returned to England and volunteered for military service, joining the Suffolk Regiment. He arrived at the Western Front in France as a lieutenant in May 1915, and quickly rose to the rank of Captain at the age of only twenty. Sorley was killed in action, shot in the head by a sniper, at the Battle of Loos on October 13, 1915. Robert Graves, a contemporary of Sorley's, described him in his book Goodbye to All That as "one of the three poets of importance killed during the war". (The other two were Isaac Rosenberg and Wilfred Owen.)
my days among the dead are past
My days among the Dead are past;
Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are ca...[read poem]
Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are ca...
crucible
Hot gold runs a winding stream on the inside of a green bowl.
Yellow trickles in a fan fi...[read poem]
Yellow trickles in a fan fi...
maybe
Maybe he believes me, maybe not.
Maybe I can marry him, maybe not.
Maybe the wind on...[read poem]
Maybe I can marry him, maybe not.
Maybe the wind on...
the lawyers know too much
The lawyers, Bob, know too much.
They are chums of the books of old John Marshall.
They kn...[read poem]
They are chums of the books of old John Marshall.
They kn...
the well of st. keyne
A Well there is in the west country,
And a clearer one never was seen;
There is not a ...[read poem]
And a clearer one never was seen;
There is not a ...
god's judgment on a wicked bishop
The summer and autumn had been so wet,
That in winter the corn was growing yet,
'Twas a pi...[read poem]
That in winter the corn was growing yet,
'Twas a pi...
the old man's complaints. and how he gained them
You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
The few locks which are left you are grey...[read poem]
The few locks which are left you are grey...
grass
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work --
I am...[read poem]
Shovel them under and let me work --
I am...
last answers
I wrote a poem on the mist
And a woman asked me what I meant by it.
I had thought till the...[read poem]
And a woman asked me what I meant by it.
I had thought till the...
soup
I saw a famous man eating soup.
I say he was lifting a fat broth
Into his mouth with a spo...[read poem]
I say he was lifting a fat broth
Into his mouth with a spo...
offering and rebuff
I could love you
as dry roots love rain.
I could hold you
as branches in the wind...[read poem]
as dry roots love rain.
I could hold you
as branches in the wind...
all the hills and vales along
All the hills and vales along
Earth is bursting into song,
And the singers are the chaps...[read poem]
Earth is bursting into song,
And the singers are the chaps...
dust
Here is dust remembers it was a rose
one time and lay in a woman's hair.
Here is dust reme...[read poem]
one time and lay in a woman's hair.
Here is dust reme...
pennsylvania
I have been in Pennsylvania,
In the Monongahela and Hocking Valleys.
In the blue Sus...[read poem]
In the Monongahela and Hocking Valleys.
In the blue Sus...
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