The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The pass A Detailed Look at a Criticized Poem Grief, death, devastation with the unfluctuating exception of Rupert Brooke, these were the themes reflected in most contend poetry during WWI. Brooke laced his poetry with senti mentality and nationalism, which was very different from the themes of other works during the time. Many people chicane and admire his numberss, just now despite his poetry being connoisseurized by the public, Rupert Brooke was a talented young poet throughout World War I. This poem was first publish in Brookes 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 state of war poetry. The poetry of this time reflected the feelings of the general public at the commencement of WWI. Brookes The Soldier, though seen as a hymn to the great nation of England during WWI, is to daylight seen as overly sentimental and as romanticizing the horrors of the war thr ough warm nonliteral row and symbols (The Soldier). The theme reflected most prominently in The Soldier, patriotism, is seen again in many of Brookes 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 unusual field in which he will be buried, he describes it with theres some corner of a foreign field that is forever England. at that place sh all told be in that rich earth a richer patter 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. nationalism sh ines through again in the nigh lines, A dust whom England bore, shaped, do aware,/ Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,/ A consistency of Englands, breathing English air (Brooke). A body of Englands supports Brookes embodiment of soldiers as not only English, but England. It is these exercises of Brookes strong patriotism reflected in his poetry that created the riticism for its maudlin nature (The Soldier). In continuation, the second most prominent theme employed by Brooke is the notion of transformation, which is distinguished clearly throughout The Soldier. The second stanza was a prime example of the conversion displayed in the poem. The line in the second stanza, And think, this heart, all evil shed away (Brooke) implies a transformation from a soldier, ordinary and human, to a cleansed intelligence who will live forever through England.The second stanza is saying that with death for your country comes great honor and transformation into a pure soul, foreve r remembered for commoveing to the end for their country. By making yourself a martyr, you relieve oneself cleansed your soul and this is a great transformation. This idea is what inspired soldiers to be willing to die for their country, and to want to fight for England. Brooke is saying that there is a larger purpose that can be achieved through death, which is another example of Brooke romanticizing the war and death.To soldiers, the thought of being transformed into a great soul, forever linked to your nation because of your connection with England, is consistent throughout, which is why transformation is a prominent theme of the poem (The Soldier). The metonymical language in The Soldier defines the poem and displays the message, but also supports the fact that Brookes poem approaches the horrors of war in an indirect and romantic manner. When Brooke refers to some corner of a foreign field he is using the field as a symbol for the simple graveyards soldiers were buried in.H ere, Brooke is addressing the war in a lighter tone, which critic Chris Semansky criticized Brooke for. The line in The Soldier addressing how the earth in which an English soldier is richer again uses a light symbol for a serious subject of war. Brooke refers to dust as a body in the line, In that rich earth a richer dust concealed (Brooke). Dust is used again in the next line, A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware (Brooke). In both lines dust is a symbol for a dead soldier. Another example of Brookes figurative language is his repetition of England in his poem.This is another prime example of the theme of patriotism that is presented throughout in The Soldier. Critic Bruce Meyer calls attention to more use of symbols in the poem, including the line, And think, this heart, all evil shed away (Brooke) which is symbolizing a man being purified before offering himself as a lamb to the slaughter (Meyer). The poem also uses an Petrarchan and Shakespearean rhyme scheme, using an alternating rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD rhyme scheme in the first stanza, which is Shakespearean, and then in the second stanza, a EFGEFG rhyme scheme, which is Petrarchan.Many of Brookes poems use a Shakespearean alternation rhyme scheme consistently. The entire style of the poem remains English, polite and gentlemanly, and the style matches the figurative language and poetry techniques used symbols to lighten the poetrys subject and a Shakespearean rhyme scheme (The Soldier). Furthermore, the time in which Brookes The Soldier was write is crucial to understanding not only the poem, but why The Soldier has slipped from a famous to infamous piece of literature. The poem was written in 1914, at the beginning of WWI, during which Brooke had enlisted in the Royal Naval Division.Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sarajevo, his wife, were murdered by Serbian nationalists, which had catapulted England into WWI (The Soldier). This was a time when England was sending their young men off to fight, w ithout the assurance that they would return home. The public was coping with the deaths of their sons and husbands, and Brookes poem was playing to the times. It was a reassurance to the general public about the war and the death occurring, and its strong level of patriotism was met with the publics own patriotism, as critic Semansky reiterates (Semansky).Brooke had war experience himself, through the Royal Naval Division, but was not engagement on the front lines or having any major experiences in war. He spent his first assignment assisting civilians in the evacuation of Antwerp, though he was to begin with assigned to help hold down the Channel ports with the navy. He did not complete his next assignment, to take back Constantinople from the Turks, because of his death, of fever, on the way to Gallipoli. Brooke did not have the immense war experience many other poets of the war had, and it influenced the demeanor of his poetry.Other war poets, Sassoon, Owens and Rosenburg did no t adopt Brookes heavily patriotic views, but rather questioned his pose towards the war. By the public, The Soldier was revered, but as the war continued, and eventually ended and the horrors of the war made themselves more evident, The Soldier was thought of as sentimental literature, and not as a personification of the war (The Soldier). In conclusion, Rupert Brookes The Soldier reflected the attitude of England during the start of WWI, a comparison which has made it both famous and infamous.The historical context of the poem, the background being WWI, is a key to complete understanding the poem and the reason for its notoriousness. The Soldier gives you a petty(a) insight into the ideology of soldiers and the public, who were looking for a deeper meaning for the death and destruction occurring. Through this, the poem informs your understanding of Rupert Brookes reactions to England, the war, and the mayhem of the beginning of the war.His general attitude towards the war was str ongly patriotic, and criticized for being as sentimental as it was. Brooke, as you can determine through the poem, felt that death during the war was a free for England that would ultimately be rewarded in the afterlife, and that it was the greatest show of devotion that one could show for their country. He felt strongly for England, and arouseed to the people, but his poetry lost its appeal as the war progressed and the lightness in which Brooke regarded the war was recognized (Semansky).Through the fact that The Soldier was accepted during 1914, you can make the connection that the public divided Brookes view of hope for a deeper meaning to the war and death. The Soldier meshes with Rupert Brookes ideology, experiences and style, as well as with the time period. Though Brookes fiercely patriotic and light take on WWI in The Soldier strongly appealed to the public as they coped with loss during the commencement of WWI, its sentimentality has been criticized for romanticizing the war and masking the authorized horrors England was experiencing.If I should die, think only this of me That theres some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of Englands, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given Her sights and sounds dreams happy as her dayAnd laughter, learnt of friends and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. WORKS CITED Brooke, Rupert. The Soldier. Poets Corner. 1914. http//www. theotherpages. org/poems/brooke01. html. Meyer, Bruce. The Soldier. Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary chromatic and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield townsfolk High Sc hool. 9 Nov. 2008 . Semansky, Chris. The Soldier. Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 . The Soldier. Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit Thomson Gale, 2000. 217-227. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 .