poetry anthology - the soldier

Question 1

what is the meaning of the soldier?

Answer 1

• unamed soldier believes that if he dies england will be within him since it shaped their lives
• war poem -> death of speaker will achieve peace in england
• how they should be thought of after death

Question 2

what is the message of the soldier?

Answer 2

• patriotism
• love and pride for england
• insignificance of individual vs their country
• sacrifice

Question 3

what is the tone of the soldier?

Answer 3

• about death but not sad
• patriotic
  -nostalgic
• grateful
  -passionate
  modern reader response
• superiority and arrogance
• idealistic

Question 4

what is the form of the soldier (and its significance)?

Answer 4

sonnet form
(14 lines and aimbic pentameter)
- usually love poems, reflects love for england

Question 5

what is the first quartain in the soldier about?

Answer 5

first quartain
-sets up the idea of the soldier dying
-‘body’

Question 6

what is the second quartain in the soldier about?

Answer 6

second quartain
- consequences/ result of soldier’s death
- ‘soul’

Question 7

what does the title ‘the soldier’ show?

Answer 7

‘the soldier’
- unamed/anonymous shows insignificance of individual compared to whole country
- universal experience
- expectation of violence/war subverted by gentle/sweet imagery eg flowers

Question 8

what is the purpose of the poem ‘the soldier’?

Answer 8

glorify the war to persuade other people to join the armed forces

Question 9

quotes - religious semantic field in the soldier

Answer 9

‘washed by the river’ - baptism/purity and religion
- repition of ‘dust’ (allusion to bible, ashes to ashes, dust to dust)
- ‘blest by suns of home’
- ‘english heaven’ (heaven belongs to england)

’

Question 10

why is there a religious semantic field in the soldier?

Answer 10

glorifies england which makes it propaganda for people to become soldiers

Question 11

why are the many semicolons in the solider?

Answer 11

emphasizes how many good things that England has given to the speaker

Question 12

how is england presented in the soldier?

Answer 12

• superior to other countries
  ‘rich earth a richer dust concealed’ - english people make other countries richer
• ‘foreign field’ - alliteration, distances other unamed countries

Question 13

positive imagery in the soldier