Brooke writes in a romantic and idealistic manner. He does not view the war as a traumatic event; he sees it as an opportunity to express one’s love for their country. His traditional viewpoint and optimistic tone evokes positive feeling towards the war. Although death is a main theme in the poem, Brooke skims over the gruesome details of dying in combat and simply acknowledges the fact that it is a great honor to die in the process of defending one’s nation; “The Soldier” is essentially glorifying the concept of war.
The first stanza deals with the physical aspects of life and death. The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the poem: ‘If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.’ The idea of death is immediately put forward, yet Brooke romanticises the idea. He writes, ‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;’ this suggests that when a soldier dies in a foreign land, the ground where he falls will be marked as British soil; as if even in death he is fighting for his country. Although Brooke writes in the first person, ‘think only this of me’ the reader senses that Brooke speaks on behalf of every ‘soldier’ on the front line; that he is telling the young men that they should feel honoured, as does he, to be serving their country, and that they will continue to do so after their death.
The word ‘England’ is used repeatedly throughout; England is personified and presented as a motherly figure: ‘A dust whom England bore,’ thus emphasising the sense of patriotism felt throughout the poem. Brooke portrays a beautiful and idealistic image of England: ‘Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.’ The idea that even though they are in a foreign country, the soldiers will still be ‘blest by suns of home’ and ‘breathing English air’ conveys the message that their homeland will never abandon them.
In the second stanza, the focus is more on the spiritual and emotional aspects of life and death: ‘Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day.’ The image of ‘this heart, all evil shed away,’ giving back thoughts ‘by England given’ links back to the concept in the first stanza of the soldiers bodies enriching the surrounding soil. The line, ‘a pulse in the eternal mind, no less’ brings forth the idea that after death the soldiers will live on in memory; assuring the men that they will not have died in vain and their sacrifices will long be remembered. The word ‘eternal’ is particularly powerful here; the concept of eternity is completely unfathomable, and it seems that Brooke feels that those willing to die at war will be offered eternal happiness, in the form of life through the memories of others. The final line is extremely emotive, ‘In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.’ It suggests that only in death will the soldiers eventually find peace, and the words ‘English heaven’ enforces the previous idea that wherever they may be England will never leave them. The reference to faith, present in a great deal of the literature of the period, also emphasises how strongly Brooke (and many others) felt with regard to fighting for one’s country as well as defending your beliefs and values.
In conclusion, “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke, is a highly evocative, thought provoking piece. It clearly illustrates people’s feelings towards the war when it began, and the sense of patriotism that was aroused in the British population. In hindsight, with so many lives lost and the tragedies or war made obvious, the concept of war and defending one’s country being a glorious thing is ludicrous. It is for this reason that “The Soldier” is particularly effective in assessing how attitudes have changed, whilst giving an insight into this particularly important time in British history.