The Soldier By Rupert Brooke
The poem describes Brooke’s overtly patriotic view that it is a glorious and honourable sacrifice to die for your country, and specifically England. The poem acts almost as a love poem to England, which he romanticises and praises for its beauty and bounty. It is an idealistic view of war and what it was like or would be like to die in battle.
Key Quotes:
The title ‘The Soldier’ suggests an anonymous person, reflecting how many soldiers died during WWI. It is a sonnet, a love poem to England.
The opening line “If I should die” suggests an acceptance of death and modal verb “should” indicates a willingness to die for his country
The words “richer dust” suggests the remains of his body are superior to the ground he lies in because he is English, not foreign. Dust also relates to the religious idea of our bodies becoming “dust” when we die.
“A pulse in the eternal mind” suggests his presence in the soil of foreign land will always live on, making him immortal
Final words – “under an English heaven” shows his pride in England as he is suggesting England is almost like paradise and to die in England’s name would bring him “peace”.
Structure:
Possible Themes and Links:
Patriotism – Dulce et Decorum Est
Loss in war – Dulce et Decorum Est and A Wife in London
Pride – Ozymandias and Dulce et Decorum Est
Summary of the Poem
“The Soldier” written by Rupert Brooke is a poem full of the feeling of patriotism. The poem exhibits a genuine love of an English soldier for his country. In this poem, the poet is an English soldier. He has a deep love for his country. He says that if he dies in the battle, his body would be buried in a foreign land. That piece of land would be considered part of England because the body of an English soldier lies under it. He says that foreign dust is rich, but the dust of his body will be richer than the dust where he is concealed. He says that England shaped his body and also gave him good thoughts. England gave him flowers and paths to roam. The poet says that he breathed in the air of England, bathed in her rivers and grew up under its stars’ light. His personality developed in the beautiful environment of England. He is highly indebted to his country. He would feel happy if he is able to repay the debt he owes to his motherland. The Poet further says that after his death his soul will be purified of all evils. His soul will merge with the divine soul. He will become a part of Him. Then he would be able to repay the debt he owes to his country. He says that he will not like to be separated from his motherland even after his death. His soul would spread the noble ideas that he learnt from his country. He will tell others about the beautiful sights and sounds of England. His motherland blessed him with remarkable qualities like lofty aspirations and cheerfulness. He would spread all these qualities which he has learnt from his homeland. This shows how much the soldier loves his country. He does not want to be separated from his country even after his death.
Explain with Reference to the Context:
Stanza 1
Reference to Context
The lines quoted above have been taken from the poem “The Soldier” written by Rupert Brooke. In this poem, the poet is an English soldier who has a deep love for his country. His heart is full with the strong feeling of patriotism. He feels highly indebted to his country. He would feel happy to repay the debts he owes to his country. He says that even after his death he will not be separated from his country. After his death, his soul will spread the values of life taught to him by his motherland.
Explanation
In these lines, the poet says that if he dies in the battle, his body would be buried in a foreign land. That piece of land, where he is buried, would be considered part of England because under it lies the body of an English soldier. Foreign dust is rich but the dust of his body will be richer than the dust where he is concealed. England shaped the body of the poet and gave him good thoughts. England gave him beautiful flowers and ways to roam. He breathed in the air of England, bathed in her rivers and grew up under its stars’ light. His personality developed in the beautiful environment of England. He is highly indebted to his country. These lines show the poet’s deep love for his country.
Stanza 2
Reference to Context
The lines quoted above have been taken from the poem “The Soldier” written by Rupert Brooke. In this poem, the poet is an English soldier who has a deep love for his country. His heart is full of the feeling of patriotism. He is highly indebted to his country. He would feel happy to repay the debts he owes to his country. He says that even after his death he will not be separated from his country. After his death, his soul will spread the values of life taught to him by his motherland.
Explanation
The Poet says that after his death his soul will be purified of all evils. His soul will mingle with the divine soul. He will become a part of him. Then he would be able to repay the debt he owes to his country. After his death, his soul would spread the noble ideas that he learnt from his country. He will tell others about the sights and sounds of England. His homeland blessed him with remarkable qualities like lofty aspirations and cheerfulness. He would spread all the qualities which he learnt from England. These lines show the poets deep love for his country. He does not want to depart from his country even after his death.
Questions -Answer (Short Type)
Q.1. How can a foreign land be a part of England?
Ans.: The speaker in the poem is an English soldier. His heart is full of patriotism for his country. He says that if he dies in the battle, he would be buried in the foreign land. That piece of a foreign land where he is buried should be considered part of England. Thus, a foreign land can be a part of England.
Q.2. Enumerate and explain the words and phrases used in the poem which tell us that the poet is patriotic.
Ans.: The poem is full of with words and phrases which tell us that the poet is patriotic. The words and phrases which show poet’s patriotism are: ‘That is forever England’, ‘richer dust’, ‘a dust whom England shaped’, ‘a body of England’s’, ‘English air’, sum of ‘home’, ‘her sights and sound’, ‘thoughts by England given’, ‘under and English Heaven’.
Patriotism is the theme of the poem. The Poet says that a true soldier has a deep love for his country. The Poet is a true soldier. His heart is full of with the feeling of patriotism. He is highly indebted to his country. He says that he was given birth by England. His personality developed in the beautiful environment of England. He says that he would feel very happy to repay the debt he owes. Even after his death, he does not want to part with his country. To conclude the poet wants to convey that a true patriot always loves his country.
Q.4. Explain the line ‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed’.
Ans.: The poet says that if he dies in battle, his dead body would be buried in a foreign land. He says that foreign dust is rich, but the dust of his body will be richer than the dust where he is concealed. Because it is the dust of an English soldier.
Q.5. How many times word ‘the England”/ ‘English’ are repeated. What do they signify?
Ans.: The words England/English are repeated six times. The repetition of the words shows the poet’s deep love from his country. He is highly indebted to his country. He does not want to part his country even after his death. He wants to spread all those qualities which his country has taught. This is the reason he repeats these words again and again. These words signify that he is patriotic.
Questions -Answer (Essay Type)
Q.1. What value does the poem attach to patriotism?
Ans.: “The Soldier” is a patriotic poem. It attaches a high value to patriotism. It is one of the best war sonnets of Rupert Brooks. It exhibits the deep love of a soldier for his country. The poet is prepared to lay down his life for his country. Even after his death, he does not want to be separated from his country. He is fighting a battle for his country. He is aware of the fact that after his death in battle he will be buried on a foreign soil. He believes that the place where he will be buried would be considered a part of England. Like a true patriot, he respects the soil of another country also. In his view foreign dust is precious. But his dust is more precious than the dust under which he concealed. He feels himself to be proud to belong to a country like England. He loves his country very much. He also loves the environment of England. He was born out of the soil of England. England shaped his body and thoughts. According to him the environment of England is very good. It is full of with many beautiful things like lovely flowers, clear strains, beautiful stars. His personality took a right shape in this beautiful environment. England taught him many wonderful qualities. She taught him to nurse lofty aspirations. She also taught him cheerfulness and gentleness. He believes that after his death his soul will be purified. His soul then tells others about the qualities of his motherland. His soul will spread the high values of lift taught to him by the beautiful environment of England. He loves England so much that he does not want to be parted from his country even after death. Like a true soldier, he is fully devoted to his country. This poem is coloured with the spirit of patriotism.
Q.2. What glimpse do you get of the soldier’s own character and attitude to life?
Ans.: The Soldier is a man of high character. He is a patriot to the core. He has an intense love for his country. His devotion to his motherland is remarkable. He loves his country so deeply that he does not want to be separated from his country. He is highly indebted to his motherland. His land has made him a man of very noble character. He says that he would feel happy to repay the debt he owes to his country. He is a true soldier. He wants to lay down his for his country. He says that after his death the place where he is buried would be considered a part of England. Thus an English man can create England anywhere. His attitude towards life is too coloured in the spirit of patriotism. He says that he is born out of the soil of his country. England shaped his body and thoughts. He is highly indebted to his country. He says that the environment of his country is very beautiful. It is full of beautiful flowers, fresh air, clean rivers and stars light. His personality developed in the beautiful environment of England. His motherland has taught him many remarkable qualities. She taught him gentleness and cheerfulness. She also taught him to nurse lofty aspirations. He is highly indebted to his country. He says that after his death he will be purified. His soul will merge with the soul of the divine. Then his soul will spread the great values of life taught to him by his motherland. In this way, he will be able to pay the debt he owes to his country. The quality of the soldier’s character that emerges from the poem is that he is a man of upright character who loves his country very much. He has intense feelings of love for his country. His attitude to life is also coloured with the spirit of patriotism.
Q.3. Discuss the “The Soldier” as a war sonnet’
Ans.: “The Soldier” is a remarkable poem written by Rupert Brooke. He is very famous for his wartime poetry entitled ‘1914 and other poems’ published in 1915. This is one of the best war sonnets of Rupert Brook. This occupies the last position in the five sonnets he composed under the strain of war. He met an untimely death at the age of 28. The sonnet reveals the background of war. It is about an English soldier. His heart is full of the spirit of patriotism. He is fighting a battle for his land. He does not mind to lay down his life for his country. In fact, he sees death as a sacrifice that should be made happily for one’s own land. His love for his country is so deep he does not want to be parted from his land even after his death. He says if he dies in the battle he would be buried in a foreign land. But that piece of land where he is buried would be considered as a part of England because under it is concealed the dead body of a true English soldier. In this way, a true English soldier could create England anywhere. He is highly indebted to his country. He was born out of the soil of England. His body and mind took the right shape in the beautiful environment of England. His country taught him many wonderful qualities like cheerfulness, gentleness and peace of mind. He wants to spread all the good values of life that he learnt from his country to repay his debts. He says that after his death his soul will merge with the soul of the divine. Then his soul will spread all those qualities which it has learnt from his land. Thus, it is a war sonnet. It exhibits the genuine love of an English soldier for his country.
