Qiyang Xu
4/4/2013
Two poems Dulce et Decorum Est and the Solider were written by two poets who personally served in British army in world war I. Dulce et Decorum Est was written by Wifred Owen in 1920 and the Solider was written by Rupert Brooke in 1915. Brook shows a very positive attitude towards the war and died shortly after he wrote the poem. Owen, who experienced the whole war, implies the war is terrible and horrific. Brook expressed great patriotism and courage in the soldier. The poem was written in 1915. It was less than a year from the beginning of the war, and the moral of British military was still high. Brook clamed “if I should die, think only this of me; that there is some corner of a foreign land that is forever England.(p910)” Some may believe that Brook means he belong to England even in death. But these words can also be interpreted in another way. It literally means that England would gain something should he fall in battle. Brook believes that his sacrifice will useful; and he was rightfully to think so. The British Empire was in the apex of its power in the beginning of 20th century. The Pax Britannica had lasted for 100 years and every time Britain went to war, they were victorious. From Napoleon to Emperor of China, all fall before Britain’s might. It was reasonable for a normal English soldier to feel he was in the best country in the world. Brooke’s poem shows that he also shares such feeling when he repeated mention England, and when he says “in heart at peace, under an English haven. .(p910)” Those words show Brookes’s pride as a British and his love to England. Because Brooks died shortly after he wrote the Soldier, and never witnessed the full horror of WWI, it is impossible to say how Brooke would react if he saw how the war ends. Owen experienced much more wartime than brook did, and his poem shows