The Soldier

• 'If I should die, think only this of me:'

  • iambic pentameter used
  • first person narrative voice only in first line- poem could be bout any soldier
  • imperative - makes the reader feel responsible for carrying out his request
  • first person - reflects idea that it is an honour to die for your country
• "England bore, shaped, made aware"

  • England is personified as a nurturing mother
  • asyndeton, list without connectives - England is loving and motherly
  • birthed and moulded young soldiers to be who they are today- sense of duty to repay ones country
• 'Foreign field that is forever England'

  • alliteration - emphasises patriotism in his speech
  • 'forever' - eternal glory - continuing a legacy
  • regardless where they fall, they died serving their country and a small part of that place becomes england - carries England with him even after death
• context

  • Rupert Brooke was a soldier during WWI and died of blood poisoning. He was buried in “a foreign field” in Cyprus
  • He never was involved in active service but this poem shows he felt very patriotic about England
• structure

  • The poem begins with the idea of the anonymous soldier’s death and suggests his decomposing body will infuse the ground around him with a little of his English values and ideals.
  • The middle of the poem personifies England and considers how beautiful and picturesque thecountryside is.
  • The final stanza suggests that in death he will achieve some form of immortality under a “heaven” that is English, even if the land he lays in is not