Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915) was a Scottish scholar, soldier, and poet who wrote an impressive number of poems during his short life. Killed in action during World War I, his poetry was published posthumously in a collection titled Marlborough and Other Poems, which immediately became a critical success.
Sorley’s time as a soldier influenced much of his creative work, and “I Have Not Brought My Odyssey” is an example of this, invoking the oral traditions of storytelling going back to the Trojan War. Sorley adds himself to the ranks of soldiers who, immured in the timeless tide of war, cast themselves into the future through their dreams of returning home.
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