How is the poem 'The Soldier' evaluated as a patriotic poem?

Answer 1

Patriotism is a true form of love. It is a form of love which is pure, yet which has the ability to rage fire for the sake of itself. It is the form of love which is unconditional, immense, true and real for one's land, one's true mother.

Rupert Brooke has presented his petriotism in such a forceful expression that he considers the sand in which he would be buried, be it a foreign land, will become an English sand, the richness of which will further be increased by the fertility of an English body of a passionately patriotic soul:

"If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England."

The association and inclination of his mind and body towards his country is vigorously explained when he claims to create an English land, of an English body, bore by England, brought up by England and educated and fed by England, in the land he will be buried:

"A body of England's, breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home."

He says that after he dies, the entire cosmos, the greater spirit of the whole, the heaven to which his spirit will mingle, will remember with him, " Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;/ And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness".

His claim of the entire cosmos being with his patriotic soul is an expression of his truth, his honesty and an impulse to express the undying love he has for his land although his physical body would perish.

The very topic of the poem, 'Soldier' signifies his fight for the sake of his country and the possibility of his dieing any moment. The unpredictability of his life and the impulse of patriotism he has, forced him to write such an unimaginably inspiring piece of poem.

Answer 2

"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke is often evaluated as a patriotic poem due to its romanticized portrayal of dying for one's country and the sense of honor and duty it conveys. The poem idealizes sacrifice and service for the nation, embodying a strong sense of patriotism and national pride that resonated with audiences during World War I.