The Soldiers By Rupert Brooke Analysis

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are both poems with the theme of war and are examples of the author’s perception of war. Rupert Brooke expresses his love for England in ‘The Soldier’ through a patriotic tone and a sense of idealism. In ‘Dulce et Decorum Est”, Wilfred Owen tells us the bitter reality about the ‘glory’ for dying for one’s country. The poem has a sense of realism.

Rupert Brooke was an English poet well known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the World War 1. He was born in 1887, and was a schoolmaster of a Rugby School established in 1517. Thomas Arnold who was the schoolmaster of the school before Rupert Brooke was born, was an influential figure to the nineteenth- century

There is a sense of idealised selflessness of the soldier who is sacrificing himself for his country. The tone is supportive, positive as the author suggests going to war with a positive psychological mindset. The way Rupert Brooke writes the poem is extremely idealistic, romanticised and spiritual. This can be seen as he talks about how everything in England is wonderful and how it is better than other nationality. For instance: “breathing English air”, there is no boundaries in air, but he suggests how English air is better than air in any other foreign country. We can sense that he is proud and patriotic. However, Wilfred Owen’s tone is bitter, angry, critical and defiant. There is regret in his voice as he couldn’t have done anything to save his comrade. He dwells on the details of misery, horror and panic to try to impact those who tell the ‘old lie’ -Dulce et decorum est. Pro patria mori, which is a latin phrase that means that it is sweet and right to die for one’s homeland. This can help support his point of how war is not something to be glorified of.

The language in The Soldier is more simple while there is more complexity in Dulce et decorum est. However, both poem is in an informal register. In The Soldier, it feels like the anonymous soldier is talking directly to the audience and it is as though he is reassuring the reader just in case they are grieving for his death. The language between the soldier and the audience is very casual. However, in Dulce et Decorum est, lot of sophisticated vocabulary are used but it is as though the author is telling a story directly to the audience about his dark experiences in