The Soldier Flashcards
Who was the author of The Soldier?
Rupert Brooke
Summarise the poem
- Describes Brooke’s overly patriotic view that it is glorious and honourable to sacrifice yourself for your country, specifically England
- The persona; a soldier heading to war talks about the possibility of dying in a foreign country
→ claims it not to be an occasion of sadness but instead one of joy, as dying in a ‘corner of a foreign field’ will have made said foreign field a part of England - He personifies England as his mother, who gave birth to him and raised him to become the person he is
→ he then feels that he owes her his life and unselfishly sacrifices his life for her - It is an idealistic view of war and what it was like or what it would be like to die in a battle
What were the themes present in the poem?
War
Patriotism
Nationhood
Pride
Impact of war
Describe the form of the poem
It is in the style of a Petrarchan sonnet, which is Italian
→ could be due to the religious link (Roman Catholic Church + Catholicism)
→ Brooke could be improving the Petrarchan sonnet through writing an English Petrarchan Propaganda Poem
Iambic Pentameter: 10 syllables, 5 stressed and 5 unstressed
Line 11 has an extra syllable, which shows how much England has given
The sonnet, however, has a Shakespearean rhyme scheme: idea of making a foreign field a part of England once again stressed
Sonnets are usually used for love poetry
Describe the layout of the sonnet
- Octet = love for England
- Sestet = death for England
- Usually, there is a conflict or debate between two parts of a sonnet, but in the Soldier, there is harmony
- The structure of the poem reflects the harmony between man and his country
Describe the language in the Soldier
- England is personified through the extended metaphor of a mother who had nurtured her son who is willing to die to protect her
→ embodying ideas of heroic sacrifice - Nature imagery used heavily throughout this poem
- Religious imagery reveals his sense of faith and belief that his sacrifice will be immortalised by God
What is the effect of the natural imagery on the poem?
→ to express his love of the English countryside
→ creates a romantic, idealised idea of war without pain or suffering
→ emphasises positive force of nature
→ gives soldier a sense of wellbeing
→ appreciating the beauty of England which he loves
What is the context surrounding this period of time?
- When war was declared, many young men were eager to serve their country
- This early idealism is captured in The Soldier
- However, when war began and progressed, the nature of war was realised and the optimism surrounding began to fade
- Some poets who experienced war wrote about its horrors realistically (e.g.: Dulce et Decorum est)
What is the context surrounding Rupert Brooke?
- Associated with the Bloomsbury Group: emerging artistic circle in London in the early 1900s
- Enlisted as part of the royal navy at age 27: was an adult
- He had not seen action when he wrote the soldier
- He died after he contracted blood-poisoning of a mosquito bite on a French Hospital Ship
→ was buried in Cyprus - Poem has become a symbol for a lost generation of youth
Complete the quote
‘If I should die…
…think only this of me
Analyse the quote
If I should die, think only this of me
→ imperative, respect, honourable
→ makes reader feel a sense of duty to come to our soldier’s request
→ romanticises death by creating a heroic tone
→ first person narrative: could be any soldier speaking
→ ‘should’: he is willing to
Complete the quote
Rich earth…
…a richer dust concealed
Analyse the quote
Rich earth a richer dust concealed
→ religious overtones, reminiscent of a funeral
→ he returns to dust upon his death
→ English soldiers dying there makes the land richer
Analyse the quote
England bore, shaped, made aware
Associating motherly attributes, as if she was the one to raise and nurture the soldier
Complete the quote
England bore…
…shaped, made aware
