A Study Guide for Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Aug 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535839655

Book preview

6

The Soldier

Rupert Brooke

1915

Introduction

Written during the first year of World War I, Rupert Brooke’s The Soldier is the last in his group of six war sonnets, collectively titled 1914. Along with its companion poems, The Soldier represents many of the patriotic and traditional ideals that characterized prewar England, with Brooke portraying death for one’s country as a noble end and England as the noblest country for which to die. These poems made Brooke famous when they were first published in the periodical New Numbers in January of 1915, and a few months later, Dean Inge of St. Paul’s church read from them as part of his Easter Sunday sermon. The Soldier inspired many imitators and was, in large part, responsible for the popularity of Brooke’s 1914 and Other Poems and Collected Poems, which, combined, sold more than 300,00 copies between 1915 and