'The soldier'

Rupert Brooke is an English poet known for his idealistic was sonnets written
during the World War 1. “The soldier” is his most famous poem and is part of a
set of sonnets called “1914” that are all about war.
Rupert was deemed to be “the most handsome man in England” by Irish poet
W.B Yeats. The sweet, charming and richly sentimented poetry of the early war
years, of which “The soldier” is a prime example, would soon take a brutal turn
in the works of Owen and Sassoon.
Brooke is generally remembered as a war poet who inspired patriotism in the
early moments of the Great War however, he never experienced combat first
hand. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteers but developed Sepols from a
mosquito bite and died on his way to his first battle to Gallipoli.
The sonnet was read by Dean Inge on the 4th of April 1915 at St. Paul’s
Cathedral as part of his Sunday sermon. The poem came to hold a symbolic
position in the national preparation for war yet critics also observe that his
poems were not simply “propaganda” due to all the personal elements in them
which seems to sum up the spirit of the age.
Critics doubt whether the same idealism would have remained as part of his
poetry had he lived on. The sonnet sequence (14 lines- Octet (Shakespearean
ababcded) & Sestet (efgefg)) shows on idealism that most soldiers and poets
eventually lost, but which was largely present in the early years of the war.
In ‘The soldier’ Brooke evokes images of spiritual cleansing, the inviolable,
never to be forgotten memories of those who die fighting for their country and a
hero’s immoral legacy. He talks about these ideas with specific reference to an
English heritage and personal loyalty to it. The sonnet form of this poem suits
Brooke’s idealistic patriotism and sentimentalism because of its inherent neat
and regular structure.
Rupert Brooke opens ‘the soldier’ with “if”. This directs the reader to the
imaginary situation the persona describes. It highlights the idea of a dreamlike
vision of glorious death that is evoked in the poem. The poet uses “I” as the
persona which immediately gives the poem a personal edge although the title
given to the poem also brings certain universality to its theme and subject. So
the reader is encouraged to apply the heroism of Falling in battle not only to the
poet but to all the soldiers who have fought for their country.
The heroism and intense patriotism emerges as there is no trace of regret in the
poet’s tone as he talks about his imagined death when he says
“If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.”
Here he is saying how his death with enrich another land with English spirit and
how self-sacrifice such as dying for your country is celebrated. Rupert also
describes the English soldiers as having richer dust that soldiers from other
countries as he says “In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;”. This shows
how great he thinks the English people are but since the poem is placed in the
first person singular it brings out a sense of vainness that the poet probably has
to be saying that he has richer dust which means richer ashes.
The poet seems to personify his native land, England, as a mother figure when
he says “A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,”. Thus England is
portrayed as a carrying, nurturing force and we are led to think that in fighting
for your country, you would simply be repaying a mother’s love.
England is presented as a beautiful woman who has given a great deal to her
child; she has given “her flowers to love, her ways to roam,”
Brooke’s love for his country and the extreme patriotic mood of the poem can
be seen in the constant repetition of “England”/”English”. This reinforces the
main idea of the poem; that the soldier is blessed to be fighting for his country.
This encourages soldiers to go to war and fight for their country and if they
should die or when they die, they should not die in sorrow because wherever
they are, they will always remain a part of England. England is emphasized as
the focal point of the poem and the main receptor of the persona is love.
England is also personified as Nature (unspoiled, pure, and not evil). This
brings out the theme of Honors, Nationalism, Patriotism and also, happy to die
(for ones county).
A feeling of peace, perfection, tranquility and unity with nature is evoked by the
idyllic image conjured by the lines
“A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.”
These lines also bring out a spiritual element to the image of England in how it
reminds us of baptism.
In the sestet, death is presented as resulting in the soldier’s heart gaining a
certain purity and freedom from evil “this heart, all evil shed away,”. These are
the words of a man who truly believes that his land is the greatest of good. He is
spiritually cleansed and his heart, which beats no more, will instead become a
“pulse in the eternal mind”. This emphasizes the value of the soldier’s sacrifice
and how it will forever be remembered and alive in the English spirit.
A sense of repayment is created in the final four lines of the poem; that
sacrificing one’s life for ones country allows us to give “somewhere back the
thoughts by England given”
A final idyllic picture of England is painted as full of “laughter”, good company
and “gentleness”. In going to fight, a soldier can repay his country for those
great gifts received and discover true “heart at peace”.
He evokes positive feelings toward the war and describes optimistically the
soldiers’ thoughts once the war has finished by using words like “happy dreams”
and “laughter”. Brooke says that they should not be afraid of combat but content
because they will have wonderful memories. He glorifies the comradeship of the
soldiers and with this sentimental and optimistic tone he exhorts young people
to join the army and fight for England. He wants every young adult to imitate
those that are already recruited in order to defend the nation. He says those
words as it will be a great experience in which the soldiers will fight and will
comeback home with incredible stories to tell their friends.
I believe that Rupert Brooke was merely referring to his ideal version of war in
this poem and was unaware of the true horror of war. This can be deduced from
the date of the poem which shows that it is generally from before the war and
therefore before the casualty figures were known. But, some poets such as
Wilfred Owen wrote most of their poetry after the war and therefore were able to
report on the suffering of them and their comrades. Brooke’s poetry represents
the idealistic stage of World War 1 and thought the tide of opinion about the was
changed shortly after his death in 1915, we can still appreciate his poetry as an
example of its time, expressing a sentiment shared by many who, for that short
time, believed it to be truly sweet and fit to die for one’s country.