The Soldier -Rupert Brook

 The Soldier

BY RUPERT BROOKE

Introduction :-

"The Soldier" is a poem written by Rupert Brooke. The poem is the fifth in a series of poems entitled 1914. It was published in 1915 in the book 1914 and Other Poems.

It is often contrasted with Wilfred Owen's 1917 antiwar poem "Dulce et Decorum est". The manuscript is located at King's College, Cambridge.

The Poem :-

If I should die, think only this of me:

      That there’s 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 England’s, 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 day;

      And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

            In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Note :- This poem has had two titles: “The Soldier” and “Nineteen-Fourteen: The Soldier”. The student may give either title during the recitation.

About the Poet :-

Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915[1]) was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". He was also known for his boyish good looks, which were said to have prompted the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as "the handsomest young man in England".

This poem, 'The Soldier', is not only one of Brooke's most famous poems but one of the most famous poems written during the war and indeed in the 20th century. Here it is accompanied by another of Brooke's well-known sonnets, 'The Dead'.

“The Soldier” Summary :-

If I die in the war, I want to be remembered in a particular way. Think of how the far-off land on which I die will have a small piece of England forever. That earth will be enriched by my dead body, because my body is made from dirt born in England. England created me and gave me consciousness, gave me her blooming plants to fall in love with, and gave me my sense of freedom. My body belongs to England, has always breathed English air. England's rivers cleansed me, and I was blessed by England's sun.

Also consider the way in which my soul, through death, will be made pure. My consciousness will return to the immortal consciousness like a beating pulse, and return the beautiful thoughts that England gave me. I'll return the sights and sounds of my home country; to the beautiful dreams that were as happy as England's daytime; and to the laughter shared with English friends. And I'll return England's gentleness, which lives in the English minds that are at peace under the English sky (the English heaven where I will be at peace too when I die).

Analysis of the Poem :-

The Soldier” Setting :-

The setting of this poem can fairly be described as the speaker's idea of England. He sees himself—in both body and mind—as an extension of England. If he is to die during the war, then a small part of England will enrich the soil wherever he dies. The rest of the first stanza discusses his beloved England, portraying it as a pastoral paradise—saying little of the rain that often falls there! Instead, England is like Eden: a kind of rich and beautiful garden full of flowers, fresh air, flowing rivers, and sunshine. This sets up the way that the second stanza explicitly links England to heaven itself ("hearts at peace, under an English heaven"). Indeed, heaven and England are practically interchangeable in the speaker's mind.

“The Soldier” Speaker :-

The speaker in this poem is, of course, the "soldier" of the title. The reader learns nothing specific about this soldier's circumstances, and that's because this soldier is a kind of idealised figure who represents an equally idealised way of considering nationhood and patriotism.

Rhyme Scheme :-

"The Soldier" has a regular rhyme scheme that borrows from two different sonnet traditions, using a Shakespearean rhyme scheme in the octave (the first eight lines) and a Petrarchan rhyme scheme in the sestet (the final six).

The octave is rhymed :- ABABCDCD

Meter :-

"The Soldier" is written in formal, metrical verse. As is typical of sonnets in the English language, Brooke employs iambic pentameter—lines of five feet with an unstressed-stressed, da DUM, syllable pattern—throughout the poem.

Form :-

"The Soldier" borrows from both the Shakespearean and the Petrarchan versions of the sonnet. The first stanza follows the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, while the second follows that of a Petrarchan sonnet. Structurally, however, the poem more closely adheres to the Petrarchan sonnet overall, which is divided into an octave (an eight-line stanza) and a sestet (a six-line stanza).

Conclusion :-

So, this poem is based on the theme of patriarchy and the love for nation. Rubert Brooke is mostly wrote his poems on the favour of world war and he expresses his love for his nation through his poems.