New-York tribune., 1917-07-15
A French Account of the
Burial of Rupert BrooI:
oFror. The Westminster Ga.eno

An article in the "Mercure de Fura'
written with the authority of an eyeEi-n
and based on the official records Of h,
French hospital ship Duguay-Trouin for A'rl
% and %, 1915, gives an account Of the t''n
and burial on Sykros Of Rupert Brooke, wi's
the French writer mourns as a great EngAi,
poet, and whose death he regards as prOpa't'
of disaster, and yet as libation TO yeio9-
"le premier mort des Dardaneies."
In significant and poetic phrases he ''!i
how on the evening of the 2ls, Rupert BroOn
went ashore from II. VI. S. PRICE George i''
solitary walk on the marble island, ''t'
finding there little valley made fresh az:
silvery by tiny stream and a breeze tai'
stirred the olive trees, he sat down TO rest
and to receive inspiration in The deep revere
which gave him the mood Of what he .'
lieved would be his finest poem. ra'r
little, gray quite MISUNDERSTANDING "
stung him on the lip.
The next day, the 22d, Brooke was 'si''
aboard the Duguay-Trouin suffering iI''
anthrax. His friend and fellow officer LEI
tenant Asquth, came with him and n''s
left him till he died, az a quarter 70 J"
the afternoon of the 23d. All the resou''"
Of the hospital ship were concentrated en- Wv
first and solitary patient, and eonilnH'' y
quiries from Sir Ian Hamilton N the FIl"
George, and by wireless from the bn'''
Admiralty CBrooke's original commisslon :"
in the r. y. D. proved TO the French d'''''
and nurses how high a value was placed y
England on the life and genius oi 'ns 'V--'
poet.
The burial was hurried on; the a''aeA !.
the Straits was imminent, There ""
time 10 engrave q plate for the conn., ans !.
the deepening twilight Lieutenant As''s.
burned letters Of his friends name on -
wood of the lid 80,
Twelve tall Australians carried me C'-
from the landing stage up the genus wv, ,~
of that strange valley whose s!des ~ :,
the rubble rise into colornades, |heie
marble for palsces and statues has been 80.
away. Little fantastic holly bushss'
shrubs, patches of musk and thyms' .
which heady scent rose as me Us'
stumbled over the stony grouna' ..
black against the whiteness unoe'
streaming flames OF torches. Two n's' 's... 90 (,
the entrance of the valley, IN waien V'l. ~.
no hamlet, no cottage, not even FOSD' ,,.,
is a little hollow, where a few o!Ns III
make some shade. and here the s'N.
been dug, in the very place, 10 : sTp. ~. I'D
where the poet had rested 20 make H.' s,,,
unwritten poem. But the pit was no. !.
enough, and two young officers un"","s "a,
leave such a service to less loving hsn', -,
theirs, took spades snd followed
themselves ,,la,
When the burial service WAS ehded .s,,,
was fired across the grave ard J" ,,d
rolling in the mountains, aroused sH'er rr..,,h
night owls. with an effect which 70. .,ure.
writer notes with an emotion thai '''
be translated: ..,,i-s
"Alors. Immense mutt sleneieus' ..i,j,,
mysterieusement; les chouet'ss' ,N,,ba
hululent, ct des sonnailles, dlnn0a,.,oa,;
sonnailles intent de ci, de a. de -, ,rs
CO sont les troupeaux endorms aai o.. .s,,rs
peur, ce sont les br6bis et lss y, osi
brusq quement r6vellees, Out sehs.,,,,iasA
fluent au hasard, dams Ia hrou'se s."srt.,e
glas d'Orphee, au cou des betes 'h"v;be,is
sauvages qui froissen les herbes 'n'''"
leurs invisibles grel6ts.' uuirsa
The next day the squadron lei' :" I'm, he
renedos and the Dardanelles' ,rspheg
little mound on Sykros 20 fulhi 'ns is., th,a
of those most quoted lines, VIRTUE" ,s,, RI
a year before: There shall De !" TAss
earth a richer dust concealed
is forever England