The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

 The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

                                   

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.

 

INTRODUCTION –

The Soldier is a famous poem by the war poet, Rupert Brooke. It was written in 1914 during the World War but was published in 1915. The poem's structure is that of a Petrarchan sonnet where the lines are divided into an octave and a sestet. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABABCDCD EFGEFG. The poem is deeply patriotic and idealistic and expresses a soldier’s love for his country, i.e. England.

POET -

Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915) was an English poet best known for his war poems. W. B. Yeats called him 'the most handsome young man in England'. His best works include The Soldier, The Dead, The Old Vicarage, etc.

SUMMARY –

LINES 1 to 8 –

The poet says that if he dies in the war, he wants to be remembered uniquely. He says that when he will die and be buried on the country's foreign land where he is fighting, that land will start belonging to England. The land will become rich and fertile because his own body will decay and mix in the ground. And as he contains the richness and beauty of England that land will turn rich itself. England has created him and made him aware of himself. She blessed him with nature and freedom. His body belongs to England as he has always breathed the English air, cleaned by the English rivers, and experienced the sun's warmth in England.

LINES 9 TO 14 –

The poet asks us to think how, even in his death, his soul will remain pure. Even when he falls and starts to lose consciousness, his country's eternal consciousness will be with him. He will always be blessed by his country's thoughts, which will give him a sense of relief. He will remember all the moments he had in England - when he sighed, when he cried, when he dreamed or when he laughed with his friends. So, even if he is buried in a foreign country, he will be happy knowing that his country and the people there are free and safe.

THEMES -

• War – The poem describes war as the background and how the poet doesn’t hope to come out alive, but still, he is satisfied thinking that after this war ends his country will be free and happy.

• Patriotism – The poet’s love for the country and his words are enough to show his patriotism. He says that even if he dies in a foreign country, his body and the land where it is buried will remain England's properties.

END –

So we can say that the poem is a beautiful description of the poet’s love for his country even though he fully well knows that he may die in the war. The words and emotions help us understand the meaning better. However, nowadays, the poem is seen as somewhat immature, offering little of war experience.