The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
“The Soldier”
A Detailed Look at a Criticized Poem
Grief, death, devastation: with the strong exception of Rupert Brooke, these were the themes reflected in most war poetry during WWI. Brooke laced his poetry with sentimentality and nationalism, which was very different from the themes of other works during the time. Many people love and admire his poems, but despite his poetry being criticized by the public, Rupert Brooke was a talented young poet throughout World War I. This poem was first published in Brooke’s book of sonnets, 1914 rightly named for the year they were authored. WWI was an influential time for poetry and a catalyst for an important movement in poetry; war poetry. The poetry of this time reflected the feelings of the general public at the commencement of WWI. Brooke’s “The Soldier,” though seen as a hymn to the great nation of England during WWI, is today seen as overly sentimental and as romanticizing the horrors of the war through strong figurative language and symbols (“The Soldier”). The theme reflected most prominently in “The Soldier,” patriotism, is seen again in many of Brooke’s war sonnets, but not commonly in the poetry of emerging poets during the war. Brooke is notorious for his use of sentimentality and nationalism in his war poetry. The voice in “The Soldier” talks about his untimely death in a fiercely patriotic manner, undaunted by his likely demise. When referring to the foreign field in which he will be buried, he describes it with “…there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England. There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed” (Brooke). In these lines Brooke is saying that the dust, the earth, in which he is buried in will be richer because an English soldier lies in it; because a piece of England lies beneath the earth. Through this statement, Brooke is associating the soldier in the poem with England, making him not just English, but England. Patriotism shines through again in the next lines,
A Detailed Look at a Criticized Poem
Grief, death, devastation: with the strong exception of Rupert Brooke, these were the themes reflected in most war poetry during WWI. Brooke laced his poetry with sentimentality and nationalism, which was very different from the themes of other works during the time. Many people love and admire his poems, but despite his poetry being criticized by the public, Rupert Brooke was a talented young poet throughout World War I. This poem was first published in Brooke’s book of sonnets, 1914 rightly named for the year they were authored. WWI was an influential time for poetry and a catalyst for an important movement in poetry; war poetry. The poetry of this time reflected the feelings of the general public at the commencement of WWI. Brooke’s “The Soldier,” though seen as a hymn to the great nation of England during WWI, is today seen as overly sentimental and as romanticizing the horrors of the war through strong figurative language and symbols (“The Soldier”). The theme reflected most prominently in “The Soldier,” patriotism, is seen again in many of Brooke’s war sonnets, but not commonly in the poetry of emerging poets during the war. Brooke is notorious for his use of sentimentality and nationalism in his war poetry. The voice in “The Soldier” talks about his untimely death in a fiercely patriotic manner, undaunted by his likely demise. When referring to the foreign field in which he will be buried, he describes it with “…there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England. There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed” (Brooke). In these lines Brooke is saying that the dust, the earth, in which he is buried in will be richer because an English soldier lies in it; because a piece of England lies beneath the earth. Through this statement, Brooke is associating the soldier in the poem with England, making him not just English, but England. Patriotism shines through again in the next lines,
Cited: Brooke, Rupert. “The Soldier.” Poet’s Corner. 1914. http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/brooke01.html. Meyer, Bruce. “The Soldier.” Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000 Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>. Semansky, Chris. “The Soldier.” Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000 Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>. "The Soldier." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000 Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>.