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The War Sonnets: V The Soldier


If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her lights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Notes

This is Brooke's best-loved and best-known poem, perhaps because in it he was actually writing his own epitaph. His deep love of his Country is very moving and the respect he shows for the English people is quite evident.

The poem is often compared with 'Drummer Hodge' written by Thomas Hardy during the Boer War.

Both poems sharing the same theme, the death and burial of a young soldier far from home, but this poem is a loving, sentimental poem whereas Hardy's was closer to the harsher realities of war.

Brooke is buried in Greece.

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England .

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Comments

1 - 12 of 12

  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    November 28, 2007
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    for guest Caroline

    He was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a temporary Sub-Lieutenant shortly after his 27th birthday which would have been in 1914. He remained in the Reserve until his death in 1915; this poem being written in 1914 - hope that answeres your question.
    Von - Oldpoetry Team


  • November 28, 2007
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    rupert brooke

    From guest caroline (contact)
    where was this poem written? did he write it while he was in the Royal Navy


  • October 28, 2007
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    Can you tell me ....

    From guest Nottelling (contact)
    What can we learn from this poem and Dulce Et Decorum Est pls... ASAP


  • October 27, 2007
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    Learned Long ago

    From guest beryl Lowe (contact)
    This is very beautiful. It is something that comes to my mind very often. I learned it as a little girl, and I will always remember.


  • October 24, 2007
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    ummm

    From guest Beth (contact)
    i'm doing an english assessment on ww1 poetry and i have to find the dates of which this poem was written...can anybody help? thanks and this is a great poem its a great symbol of patriotism...


  • March 27, 2007
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    From guest Alison (contact)
    Being English and never feeling at home here...I have this on a plague in my garden. Makes me feel at home.


  • March 18, 2007
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    wondering....

    From guest melinda marryton (contact)
    I am doing a history project and i was wondering if this guy was in ww1....if anyone knows could you post it..please and thankyou.......oh and uh good poem. very deep


    • I-Like-Rhymes Moderators member
      March 18, 2007
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      Brooke was actually in the Royal Navy during WW1 but since they had more officers and men than were required for the available ships several battalions were formed and served as members of the army in army uniforms with Royal navy insignia. He died in 1915 of blood poisoning following a minor wound. http://www.1914-18.co.uk/brooke/
      for a quick biography just click on the picture at the top of this page.


  • January 9, 2007
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    Nice Poem

    From guest gil (contact)
    it is a very great poem. It represents a heroic image..

  • pankaja
    December 7, 2006
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    Hispoems touch the heart-strings profoundly

  • pankaja
    December 7, 2006
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    Rupert Brooke has always been one of my favourites.


  • December 4, 2006
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    very sooothing sonnet

    From guest Haldow Mush (contact)
    very well structured and a great poem. we r doing this in english atm.


  • December 4, 2006
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    poem

    From guest Haldow Mush (contact)
    nice poem.


  • November 21, 2006
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    Rock on

    From guest Gerts (contact)
    Rupert Brook was an amazing specimen of naivety. Although this is partially excusable due to the euphoria of 1914, it is ridiculous to write of that of which you know nothing. I do not deny the poem's poignancy or skillful writing techinque, but I do believe it to be - whilst an important part of history, entirely dishonest (as is blatantly obvious.)Rock on Rupert!!!

  • janden
    September 29, 2006
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    excellent poem

    we learned this poem during world war two, when I was a student at the local high school. Our school choir, of which I was a member,sang it on numerous occasions.
    Even in those days I thought it a most beautiful poem written with such feeling. Thank You for this lovely poem. Janeana

  • Jackle
    March 24, 2006
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    So sad, young men have to die for freedom.

    I can feel his heart beat as he knows he will die but he is not afraid. He is sad and knows that where ere it may happen, he will be England in that land. He was a true patroit. So many have hard hearts not this this youg man. Brooke was a winner.


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    October 30, 2005
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    comments transferred from a duplicated version of poem:
    mantell (email) on Jul 11, 9:02 said: (209.240.207.44)
    Even before his death Rupert Brooke had been acclaimed the future of English poetry. He had Byron's beauty without his perversity and Chatterton's precociousness without the torment at its root. His patriotism is pure, noble and aspiring. It accepts tradition and duty, and does not question them. The other poets of the Great War regarded it as their mission to expose the hypocrisy, horror and futility of war. They were, for the most part, men broken in body and spirit. Brooke never shared their disillusionment or angst. His patriotism was of the simplest and purest kind, not just skin-deep but bone-deep, as this poem attests. This is the reason, I think, that his poems (and this poem in particular) touch the heart in a way that the poetry of the equally great but jaded Sassoon does not. Faith, hope and resolve are beautiful and inspiring qualities that will beat doubt, hopelessness and irresolution any day.


    lucy (email) on Nov 28, 2003, 1:16 p.m. said: (24.51.107.182)
    Verdict: great
    This is as patriotic a tribute as you can get, and I think beautifully and poignantly written. That a young man feels so much for his country really stands out in itself. It also demonstrates, being an early WWI poem, the innocence of the young man who wrote it, not yet disillusioned by the horrors of the war that had an impact on the poetry of others like Sassoon and Owen, who wrote of the tragic reality of the war as opposed to the glory of its cause.
    Edited on Oct 31, 1:03 because ''.


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    March 23, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    Comments transferred from a duplicated entry of this poem:

    Comments

    Connie on Jun 19, 2003, 11:04 p.m. said: (66.8.228.79)
    Verdict: Exquisite!
    This lovely piece bows to the Queen and honors England exquisitely. (
    lucy (email) on Nov 28, 2003, 1:16 p.m. said: (24.51.107.182)
    Verdict: great
    This is as patriotic a tribute as you can get, and I think beautifully and poignantly written. That a young man feels so much for his country really stands out in itself. It also demonstrates, being an early WWI poem, the innocence of the young man who wrote it, not yet disillusioned by the horrors of the war that had an impact on the poetry of others like Sassoon and Owen, who wrote of the tragic reality of the war as opposed to the glory of its cause. ((email)')" href="#"reply?)
    Fatima on Dec 15, 2003, 11:42 said: (200.181.210.198)
    braziL..
    seus coco! eu so brasileira i vcs naum saben u ke eu to skrevenu aki
    intaum..
    vai toduuu mundo caga.. pq eu keru a analise do poema i soh ten essa bosta ae!
    Timbo (email) on Mar 21, 2004, 1:29 p.m. said: (81.78.192.222)
    Verdict: The Irony of it all
    This poem emphasises to the full the naivity of those prior to WW1, the reality of Brooke's death shows there is no honour in death however patriotic you are, life isn't a film with a happy ending for those with hope.


  • EdgeOfEternity
    February 28, 2005
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    excellent poem.


  • September 11, 2004
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    This classic world war one poem shows Brookes attitude to death and afterlife. It shows sympathy for the soldiers of WW1 and what they deserve.


  • August 22, 2004
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    Thank you very much I love this poem.


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    July 28, 2004
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    I have heard the first 2 lines of this poem recited so many times and finding it's source is a personal achievement.
    Young men who expected to die in a foreign countryand were so proud of their own nationality may have often thought like this.
    Poignant piece.
    Von

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