English Heaven

The Soldier

IF I should die, think only this of me;
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,  
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.  
Rupert Brooke. 1887–1915


And there's a heavenly view for visitors to the ancient Long Stone (below) which overlooks the sea from a hilltop above Mottistone Gardens, Isle of Wight. 

Mottistone is a National Trust property, and well worth a visit, not least for The Shack, a deco-era 'sorta' man-shed to be proud of. 

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