Attitude Towards War in The Soldier and Anthem for Doomed Youth Essay

Attitude Towards War in The Soldier and Anthem for doomed Youth The two poems that I will be comparing in this essay are TheSoldier By Rupert Brooke, and Anthem for Doomed Youth By WilfredOwen. Both of these poems are sonnets and both are written during TheFirst World War. Although both sonnets are set during the same timeperiod and are or so the same war, the poets have very contradictingviews these views are expressed in their work.The first poem The Soldier is focused on the different meanings andaspects of dying for your country in a foreign land, orbehind-enemy-lines. In a war as brutal and tragic as the Second WorldWar, the death of a unblemished soldier is often neglected and cast aside.Therefore, the poet concentrates on not provided the physical consequencesand effects of his death, but the mental and spiritual ones too. Thepoet believes that because he is an Englishman he represents a smallmoving part of England. This leads him to believe that if he dies onthe battle nat ional, the ground on which his corpse decomposes will becomea tiny fraction of England. The poet believes that the only purpose ofhis death is to bless the land he dies on.If I should die, think only this of me That theres some corner of a foreign fieldThat is for ever England.This is proof of the poets belief that if he is to die away from hishomeland he will turn the ground he dies on into a piece of hishomeland. This shows that he is patriotic and that even in death hefeels he will be doing something to help his countrys cause in thewar. In the same stanza the poet goes on the praise the rich andwealthy value his death will bring to the country he dies in. The poetsees England as a super... ...e readers attention. later on reading these two poems, I had a very different opinion of war.The references to cattle in the second sonnet and the patriotism inthe first curiously helped me to understand war more intelligently.If three-hundred people die in a plane crash, it is seen as a tragedy.If one-million people die in a war, it is seen as a statistic. Byunderstanding the emotions and opinions of people truly affected bycombat, you can gain valuable knowledge and insight into the realhorrors and atrocities of war. It is often the aspiration of schoolboys togo to war and fight. If they understood the more horrific and damagingaspects of conflict I am sure that they would not dream for a second,of going to war. That is wherefore I believe these poems are very valuablein the modern world. They are an effective tool in the education ofyoung minds.