Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier” opens with the following lines: “If I should die, think only this of me:/That there’s some corner of a foreign field/That is for ever England.” Which of the following statements best describes these lines and Brooke’s poem as a whole ?

A. These lines and the poem as a whole use both the political concept of a nation and the spiritual concept of eternity to give meaning to soldiers’ deaths on the battlefield.
B. These lines and the poem as a whole are primarily concerned with the extension of Britain’s imperial power.
C. These lines and the poem as a whole seek to directly express the horrors of war.
D. These lines and the poem as a whole rely on assonance to magnify the critique of war expressed in the poem.

Correct Answer: These lines and the poem as a whole use both the political concept of a nation and the spiritual concept of eternity to give meaning to soldiers’ deaths on the battlefield. ✔

Last Updated: August 21, 2020