Question

Is the speaker in 'The Soldier' afraid of death?

Hint:

Start with a direct 'Yes' or 'No' answer, then provide the justification from the text. The poem's patriotic and idealized view of death is the core evidence here.

Answer 1

No, the speaker in Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" is not afraid of death. On the contrary, he romanticizes it as the ultimate patriotic sacrifice. He finds comfort in the thought that if he dies in a foreign land, his body will make that piece of ground "for ever England," enriching it with his Englishness.