English Lesson - interpretation of the poem Soldier by R. Brooke

1. Lessononthe ‘Soldier’byRupertBrooks
1. Before readingthe poem,pleaseanswerthese questions(pairwork).
What changesinhistoryhave had a lastingeffectonyou?
How dolife’sexperienceshelpusfindoutwhatmattersmost? What dopeople sacrifice themselves
for?Why?
How dopeople’sdreamsaffecttheirdecisions?
1. Readthe title andmake predictionsaboutthe contentof the poem.
2. Please readthe poemandvisualize it:
 lookback throughthe poemfor wordsthat create images
 use those wordsto make a picture inyourmindof the images
 rereadthe poem
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s 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 England’s, 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.
3. Talk aboutthese questionswithyourpartner:
a. MOOD: What isthe moodof the poem?What wordsinthe poemsupportyouranswer?
b. AUTHOR’S STYLE AND PURPOSE:Who isthe speakerinthe poem?Canyoudescribe him?
How doesthe soldierpresenthimself? Whatishisintention?Whodoeshe speakto?
How doeshe presentEngland?
He says ‘(…)whom England bore, shaped, made aware,’ : How did England shape the soldier?
Consequently, what kind of person did he become?

2. c. PERSONALEXPERIENCE: Is Brook’smessage (partiotism, beingproudof one’scountryand
readyto sacrifice one’slife forit) stillvalidtoday?