The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

1. Brooke was a soldier during WWI, but never fought on the front line

2. He died of blood poisoning as a result of a mosquito bite, not from the war

3. His poetry was pro-war

4. He was very patriotic about England

5. In the poem he describes how beautiful England is and that it would be honourable to die for her

6. It explores the ideal death of a British soldier in the war

7. The poem crosses over between a Petrarchan sonnet (stanza sizes and the sestet rhyme scheme) and Shakespearean sonnet ( the octave's rhyme scheme)

8. 'under an English heaven' suggests that it is better than others because it is English

9. Semantic field of nature: 'field', 'flowers', air', 'rivers', suns'. This helps to convey the natural beauty of England

10. 'In that rich earth a richer dust concealed', this suggests that the soil is now better as it has an English soldier in it

11. The caesura in line 3 after 'England' helps to create a powerful pause, that impresses upon the significance of England

12. ' blest by suns of home', shows that he thinks God is on their side because they have 'blest'

13. The choice of a sonnet reflects his love for England. The stanze sizes also reflect two opposing sides and the larger stanza is winning

14. The first stanza (the octave) talks about death, but not in a negative way and then the last stanza (the sestet) talks about after death, which is the volta.

15. 'Washed by rivers' contains connotations of religion as Britain is cleansed by rivers, which again links to God being on their side

16. 'England bore, shaped, made aware', this suggests that he thinks England helps you grow as a poerson and that it shapes who you are. It also personifies England as a mother like figure- this could mean that he thought England was the creator of all

17. Repetition of England highlights his love and passion for her. Also, despite being well travelled he still thinks England is the best as it is the only country he mentions