The Better War Poet Rupert Brooke or Emily Dickinson free essay sample

And watch the moon, and the still-raging seas, And men, coming and going on the earth. The Soldier If I should die, think only this of me: That theres 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 Englands, 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 sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. * Literary Critiques (The Soldier): 1. Brooke believed that his England was worthy of sacrifice. This patriotic element in â€Å"The Soldier† reflects the strong strain of nationalism existing throughout Western civilization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We will write a custom essay sample on The Better War Poet? Rupert Brooke or Emily Dickinson or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As traditional religion had become more personal and individual, nationalism and patriotism had become the religion of the public community, and â€Å"The Soldier† reflects those passions.Brooke’s soldier — as Brooke himself — was eagerly willing to sacrifice everything, even his life, for the Eden of England. It struck a strong chord in the early days of World War I. By the end of the war in 1918, with ten million dead, other poets were striking other chords, less idealistic, less self-sacrificing, and less patriotic. 2. In the sestet of The Soldier, we learn why this sacrifice can be so willingly given. In spite of death, the original existence, the heart, of the soldier is not lost.It has merely been purified, all evil shed away, and now beats as pulse in the eternal mind. In this death, the soldier has found a way of bequeathing his possessionshis memories of his beloved Englandto future generations to enjoy. These are Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; / And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, / In hearts at peace. 3. â€Å"The Soldier† is a sonnet of two stanzas: an octet of eight lines and a sestet of six lines. It is the last in a series of five sonnets composed shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The poems are linked by theme as well as form; all reflect idealism and optimism in the face of war, expressing the idea of release through self-sacrifice that many experienced with the coming of that war. â€Å"The Soldier† is about the probable death of a soldier, but the poem has little to do with dying. * War Poem of the 21st Century: That Day My Brother Went Away I cried my way through school that day, That day my brother went away. Days apart were no more than two, and even those were numbered few. He was my role model, Sturdy in the saddle.Nothing ever made him cry. The only thing that scared him was to fly. But as he boarded the plane and I wave goodbye, I saw a tear leak out his eye. He would be gone for so long, and he was so  very young. He said this was something he had to do, to go out and protect me and  you. So as he ensures our freedom, I am at home praying for him. He is a United States Marine, And I have more pride in him than you could ever dream. By: Stacy Williams * Compare and Contrast to â€Å"The Soldier†: The Soldier by Rupert Brooke and That Day My Brother WentAway by Stacy Williams both are war poems about soldiers leaving their homeland to fight in a war. Nationalism is easily seen in both pieces. Both soldiers felt proud for fighting for their country and neither of them felt scared. Moreover, there are no killings or deaths shown in both poems but it did not suggest warfare by any means. However, there are some differences between both pieces such as The Soldier is written about Rupert Brooke himself fighting for his beloved England while the other poem is the poet written about his brother leaving from the United States to fight in the Iraq War.Rupert Brooke wrote The Soldier in a formal tone and used a lot of imagery in it but the other poem is less formal and used rhyme at the end of every line. The Soldier has a theme of Brookes idealized society while the other poem is about the poet feeling proud of his brother and hoping him to come back safely. Emily Dickinson * Background Research on American Civil War: * The American Civil War (1861-1865) was a long and bloody war between the Southern States and the Northern States. * The Southern, or Confederate, States wanted to keep the right to own slaves. They did not want to change their old way of life, which depended on farming. The Northern, or Union, States wanted to put an end to slavery. And they believed that the changes brought about by new inventions and modern factories made their lives better. * The differences between the Northern and Southern states had existed for many years. Beginning in the mid-1800s, these differences began to cause big disagreements. * The Civil War started on April 12, 1861. On that day, Southern troops fired on Fort Sumter, a U. S. military post in Charleston, South Carolina.