William Hamilton (British Army officer) facts for kids
William Robert Hamilton was a Scottish poet and soldier who lived from around 1896 to 1917. He was born in Dumfries, Scotland. Later, he moved to South Africa and studied at the South African College in Cape Town.
William Hamilton became a soldier during the First World War. He fought on the Western Front in Flanders, Belgium. Sadly, he was killed in battle on October 12, 1917, when he was 26 years old. He served as a Second Lieutenant with the Coldstream Guards.
Today, William Hamilton is remembered at the Tyne Cot Memorial. This memorial is located at the Tyne Cot British Cemetery in Ypres, Flanders, Belgium. It honors many soldiers who lost their lives in the war.
William Hamilton's Writings
William Hamilton was known for his poetry. He published a book of poems and also wrote a play.
Published Works
- Modern Poems: This was a book of his poems published in 1917.
- Moths and Fairies: This was a play he wrote in 1912.
A Poem: The Song of an Exile
One of William Hamilton's famous poems is called "The Song of an Exile." In this poem, he writes about his feelings for both Scotland and South Africa. He describes the beautiful landscapes of Scotland, like the Cliffs of Dover and green lanes. But he also shares his deep longing for the wilder, warmer lands of Africa.
The poem shows how much he missed the unique sights and sounds of South Africa, even while appreciating Scotland. He talks about the "pines, and the blue shadows under" and the "sweet-smelling gums" of Africa. He also mentions the "heat of the veld" and the "roar of the lion."
The poem is a powerful way to understand how soldiers might have felt, missing their homes while fighting far away.
The Song of an Exile
I have seen the Cliffs of Dover
And the White Horse on the Hill;
I have walked the lanes, a rover;
I have dreamed beside the rill:
I have known the fields awaking
To the gentle touch of Spring;
The joy of morning breaking,
And the peace your twilights bring.
But I long for a sight of the pines, and the blue shadows under;
For the sweet-smelling gums, and the throbbing of African air;
For the sun and the sand, and the sound of the surf's ceaseless thunder,
The height, and the breadth and the depth, and the nakedness there.
I have visited your cities
Where the unregenerate dwell;
I have trilled the ploughman's ditties
To the mill-wheel and the well.
I have heard the poised lark singing
To the blue of summer skies;
The whirr of pheasants winging,
And the crash when grouse arise.
But I sigh for the heat of the veld, and the cool-flowing river;
For the crack of the trek-whip, the shimmer of dust-laden noon:
For the day sudden dying; the croak of the frogs, and the shiver
Of tropical night, and the stars, and the low-hanging moon.
I have listen'd in the gloaming
To your poets' tales of old;
I know, when I am roaming,
That I walk on hallowed mould.
I have lived and fought among you
And I trow your hearts are steel;
That the nations who deride you
Shall, like dogs, be brought to heel.
But I pine for the roar of the lion on the edge of the clearing;
For the rustle of grass snake; the birds' flashing wing on the heath;
For the sun-shrivelled peaks of the mountains to blue heaven rearing;
The limitless outlook, the space, and the freedom beneath.
