please feedback on 'the soldier' essay

The soldier:

Brooke presents fighting in the war as an honourable thing to do and creates the message that it is an honour to die for your country. This poem was used for propaganda in World War 1, so it is clear that war is presented as a moral and righteous thing.

The use of the title, ‘the Soldier’ creates the idea that this poem is about the idealistic soldier. And that there is only one type of soldier that you can be. It also creates the impression that rather than being one soldier, the speaker is speaking for every soldier. Showing that at this time, everyone had the same, false views of war.

At the beginning of the poem, Brooke says, ‘If I should die, think only this of me’. The first-person pronouns used in this line immediately makes the poem seem more personal and engages the reader immediately. The suggestive modal verb, ‘should’, creates the impression that the speaker believes that the soldiers will survive, which emphasises how idealistic he is as he fails to address the harsh reality of war.

As the poem progresses, Brooke says, ‘foreign field that is forever England’. Initially, we get the sense of uncertainty, through the use of ‘foreign’, however the impact of this unfamiliarity and strangeness is reduced through the repetition of the ‘f’ sound. The ‘f’ sound creates a soft atmosphere, where we feel safe and calm. Brooke attempts to move past the idea of it being unknown by linking ‘field’ to ‘England’, which symbolises a place of harmony. This emphasises the patriotism as he believes England is a place of Heaven.

Brooke also says, ‘A pulse in the eternal mind’. The use of ‘pulse’ in this line shows that war only has a very small impact on the ‘eternal mind’ which is England. It grants a notion of immortality and everlasting love for England and implies that fighting for your country only relieves stress that the young men go through. This again, disregards the negative impact of war.

Finally, throughout the poem, Brooke personifies England through the repetition of ‘her’. By personifying England as a woman, we see that England is as important to the speaker as a human is and suggests that he loves her as much as he would love another human. This personification may also link to the time that this poem was written, as women weren’t seen as men’s equals. They were seen as a weak gender, that needed to be protected, possibly linking to how honourable it is for a man to protect England.

Overall, Rupert Brooke presents war as an honourable and worthy thing to be a part of and neglects the harsh reality of the conditions and the suffering of the soldiers during war. This may potentially be due to the fact that this poem was written prior to World War 1, so Brooke will have been unaware to the reality of war.