Critical Commentary on the Soldier
"The Soldier", a poem written at the time of the First World War, conveys the love of one soldier for his country to the extent that he is ready to die for it. The poem is written in the first person narrative and thus there is a rather personal tone to it which allows us to have greater insight into the speaker's thoughts and emotions. However, we soon realise that this English soldier has not yet seen the war and therefore, although he is aware he might die, he does not know all the horror it involves and tends to over glorify it. Due to his naivetes, the tone of the poem remains hopeful and optimistic and the mood stays calm throughout.
This poem is in sonnet structure and the rhyme scheme in stanza one is ABAB and in stanza two it is ABCABC. This links the two stanzas together but at the same time makes the difference between them more apparent. The title, "The Soldier", introduces the speaker to us thus allowing us to understand the content of this poem without the narrator actually stating who he is. The fact that he is a "soldier" makes him reflect on his death and consequently on his life.
In stanza one, the speaker immediately introduces the theme of death. The first phrase of this poem is "if I should die" and the comma that follows it gives a greater impact on the reader. We can see that the soldier is speaking openly about his death and thus, that possibly, he is accepting the fact that it could take place soon. He appeals directly to the reader to "think only this" of him. The word "only'' implies that what follows is the most important to him as he does not want anyone to remember him any other way. The use of a colon after this line suggests a list. This is effective as it hints at the idea that all the items stated are important. He starts his 'list' by referring to the possibility of his death in the war. He looks at it very positively as he says that if he dies "some corner of a foreign field" will always be "England". This is because if he dies there, then he will presumably be buried there and therefore the land where he will lay will belong to him and thus to England. If such happens he will eventually become "dust concealed" in the "rich land". The ''rich land'' refers to the enemy, in this case France, and since he refers to it as being "rich", shows that he is considering the possibility of France winning the war. However, even if she did win the war, she will contain "richer dust" in her territory. The ''dust" is the soldier himself and the word "richer" implies that England will forever be superior to France, although, as it is "concealed", France will not be aware of it.
