Compare and contrast the poems, 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke and 'Bugle Call' by Edward Thomas. Are they related? How? Discuss different attitudes towards going to war. Also remember to discuss any poems by Sassoon and Owen we have discussed in class that may be relevant to your chosen theme.
Compare and contrast the poems, 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke and 'Bugle Call' by Edward Thomas. Are they related? How? Discuss different attitudes towards going to war. Also remember to discuss any poems by Sassoon and Owen we have discussed in class that may be relevant to your chosen theme.
8 Comments
Danniel Yang
10/5/2012 11:45:09 pm
Both The Soldier and Bugle Call are about soldiers’ thoughts about the worth of dying. However, the authors’ attitudes in these poems are completely different. Rupert Brooke believed that he died gloriously for his country, England. The spot where he lay would always be part of England, and he was nostalgic about the beauty of England and the pleasure that it brought him in the past. His attitude resembles that of Sassoon in his first war poems, when he hadn’t yet started fighting. He looked forward to the war and was celebrated it, as shown in The Kiss and The Dragon and the Undying. Owen also expressed that attitude in The Calls. On the other hand, Edward Thomas’s tone in Bugle Call is more resigned and gloomy, as he was saying that only God and the bugle knew that he was about to die; nobody else cared. He did not express any feeling of pride or glory by fighting for his country, but rather reluctance, resignation and strong dislike to the war. This melancholy atmosphere is also shown in his other poems such as The Owl and Rain, which express sympathy for soldiers. This attitude is also shown in Sassoon’s later poems, after he had fought and seen the horror of the war, such as Sick Leave, Repression of War Experience, Blighters and Dreamers.
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Hsin-Yi Yang
10/6/2012 07:12:25 pm
Both 'The Soldier' and 'Bugle Call' discuss about going to war and are related because the speakers in both poem express their own attitudes towards dying on the battlefield.
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Jon Guo
10/6/2012 07:48:50 pm
The sweet venerating tone of Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier” showers its reader with feelings of respect and pride for those deceased by suggesting England is made up of those who shed their blood for her. The poem suggests the sacrifices of England’s men forever rest in her soil, which portrays a feeling that the soldiers will forever be a part of England. Although their themes both collaborate with war, the joy and honor of Brooke’s “The Soldier” contrasts with the melancholic sorrow expressed in Edward Thomas’s “Bugle Call.” Bugle call forces its reader down a rabbit whole of uncomfortable isolation by removing all aspects of joy when depicting the morning scene of a soldier on the battle field. The soldier’s disillusionment regarding the war is further enhanced by his uncertainty of the current location he is at. Thomas uses the feeling of detachment to focus on the ugly side of war, and engraves that feeling deeper with his consistent rhyme scheme. After reading the poem, the reader can not help but feel sorry for the lack of hope in the young soldier’s attitude. Even his country seems to have abandoned him, and his only hope was that god would decide to let him life in order to be buried in England instead of the warzone. While Thomas’s “Bugle Call” appeals to the reader’s emotional state by instilling a notion of isolation on the young soldier, Brooke’s “The Soldier” bestows upon the reader a sense of nostalgia by talking about the wonders England possesses. Brooke appeals to the readers’ emotions by forcing the reader to recount their childhood experiences of England through the line that states “Her sights and sounds/ dreams happy as her day/And laughter, learnt of friends' and gentleness/In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.” The author links happy memories that readers bring up out of their subconscious with the notion that those who sacrificed themselves for England were responsible for allowing people to experience such joys. The author then thanks those people by honoring their sacrifices. “The Soldier” unleashes nostalgic memories in its readers, and tells them the secret, which is the fact that those who sacrificed themselves ultimately allowed the readers to have such happy memories. Then the poem goes on to suggest that people honor such heroes for giving them such joy. The difference between these two poems and their authors’ perspectives can not be greater for one believes War is just and rewarding, while the other believes it siphons hope out of the soldiers and isolates them.
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Allen Su
10/7/2012 08:40:53 pm
Both The Soldier and Bugle Call are war poems in regards with soldiers’ thoughts about the war-dying. However, Rupert Brooke and Edward Thomas have different opinions regarding the war.
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Tom Chen
10/17/2012 10:34:46 pm
Both Poems talk about English soldiers sacrificing their lives in France, a foreign country, during WWI. However, Rupert Brooke wrote the poem "The Soldier" in a rather nationalistic tone. He primarily focus on glorifying England, his native country. In stanza 1 he wrote: "That there's some corner of a foreign field, that is forever England" which glorifies the death of soldiers, and gives them heroic identities. Rupert also demonstrated his English complex in the following stanza: " A body of England's, breathing English air.....Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given..." By emphasizing the fact that these soldiers belong to England, Rupert is embracing patriotism. According to him, even when they die in a foreign place, their death were justified because they sacrificed their lives to England.
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Howard Lee
10/21/2012 11:01:56 pm
“The soldier” by Rupert Brooke is about heroism of English soldiers who fought in World War I. During the world War, soldiers were not always able to bring their dead ally; this poem is meant to remember the heroism of the soldiers. “If I should die, think only this of me;/That there’s some corner of a foreign field/ That is forever England” This shows that if he dies on a foreign field, that field will be part of England, because he belongs to England, which shows that soldiers desire to sacrifice for their country. He uses several form positive effects of words to emphasize the greatness of England and soldiers are proud of being part of country.
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Penny Ryu
10/24/2012 02:02:59 am
Just like many other poems that we have read in class, ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke and ‘Bugle Call’ by Edward Thomas inevitably contain the notion of death as the subject matter is based on the war-time. Thus, these two poems are similar in that they are both depicting the situation of the war in which the soldiers are destined to die, but different in that their attitudes towards going to war are completely the opposite.
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Phillip Lin
10/29/2012 12:16:28 am
"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke and "Bugle Call" by Edward Thomas are both fabulous war poems that talk about deaths on battlefield and the cruelty of war. The authors expressed their own feelings toward the war using the poems.
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