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.