author
Charles Hamilton Sorley
1895–1915
A gifted young war poet whose voice was cut short at just twenty, he left behind poems and letters that feel clear-eyed, unsentimental, and startlingly alive. His work offers a vivid glimpse of youth, thought, and loss in the First World War.
1 Audiobook
Marlborough, and Other Poems
by Charles Hamilton Sorley
About the author
Born in Aberdeen on May 19, 1895, Charles Hamilton Sorley grew up in an academic family and was educated at King's College Choir School and Marlborough College. Before starting at Oxford, he spent time studying in Germany in 1914, an experience that gave him a wider view of Europe just as the continent was moving toward war.
When the First World War began, Sorley returned to Britain, joined the Suffolk Regiment, and went to France in 1915. He was promoted quickly, but his life was brief: he was killed in action during the Battle of Loos on October 13, 1915, at the age of twenty.
What makes Sorley stand out is the honesty of his writing. His poems and letters avoid easy patriotism and instead show a sharp, thoughtful mind trying to face war as it really was. Much of his work was published after his death, and despite his short life, he remains one of the most admired poets of the First World War.