Friday, January 28, 2011
Noble Death?
Compare the death and burial of Hardy's "Drummer Hodge" ("They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest / Uncoffined--just as found" (1-2)) to the death and burial of Brooke's "The Soldier." How are they different? Choose one other poem from the World War I collection (Sassoon, Gurney, or Rosenberg) that also provides a contrast to Brooke's view of death in war and explain the contrast.
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The poem “Drummer Hodge” signifies a speaker’s perspective on how insignificant and desolate Drummer Hodge’s death is. He points out the soldier’s dismal final resting place in the foreign land of S. Africa and how tragic it is that this person ended up where he is and how useless his death was.
The poem “Soldier” is actually letting the reader know he doesn’t care where he die, he will become one with the foreign field and the dirt will be blessed to have him as part of it. He feels that it will be an honor to permanently represent England in his final resting place wherever that may be.
The poem “To His Love” is another soldier who wants to just forget about his friend’s death and put it behind him as quick as possible. He acknowledges the body as “that red wet thing” as if the deceased soldier is not a human. This appears to be his way of desensitizing himself from the situation.
With drummer hodge, it is about how carelessly a soldier is thought of after death. They just throw his body in a hole in Africa underneath a tree. Whereas in "Soldier" it's about how England will always exist the way this soldier knows it. That even though the war is changing England, where he rests in the ground the real England will stay there and be just as beautiful as ever. Sassoon's "They" has a great contrast to "The Soldier." In "They" it's about a Bishop who thinks the soldiers are going to come back changed internally. But instead they come back externally changed. One guy is blind, another has lost his legs, another lost his arm. This is Sassoon showing how awful the war is where Brooke's was being completely positive and very proud about his death, England, and the war. Maegan.
Hardy’s “Drummer Hodge” shows the lack of importance the boy had in the war to the point where many years from now, no one is going to remember him. By not giving Drummer Hodge a proper burial and leaving his body to rot in the middle of nowhere, it just goes to show how much meaning he was to his army and his part in cavalry. For a young, innocent boy to be persuaded to join the war for a glorious reward only to experience bloodshed and misery and then have his corpse just thrown to the side reveals the cruel and inhumane effects of wartime.
Yet in “The Soldier,” Brooke is honoring the dead subject as being patriotic and pure. He is acknowledging the fact that this soldier was given that glorious reward to fight for his country even after death unlike Drummer Hodge. He is remembered for his part and accomplishment in the war.
In “For His Love,” it is basically the complete opposite of what Brooke was trying to portray. It is very grim and for the soldier to watch his friend lie dead at his side, to him there is no honor in that but loss. The soldier is remembering the past times he had with his friends and he is forcing himself to forget all that as if he wished that part of his memory were lost. The poem sort of personifies the psychological factors that soldiers go through when someone close to them dies in war.
In the poem “The Solider” death is seen as a symbol of pride. Young mean dying for their country is honorable and patriotic. The death of the solider is recognized because the people whom the solider was fighting for will now have a better life. In the poem “Drummer Hodge” the solider is seen as dying alone in a foreign place where his soul wondering. The death of the solider was not recognized because he died in South Africa far away from his home. Where as in the in the poem “To His Love” the burial of the solider is more like a traditional funeral “Nobly, so cover him over with violets of pride purple from severn side” (11-15). The soldier death is also being mourned by his loved ones.
"Drummer Hodge" carries the mood that Drummer Hodge deserved a noble death, but did not recieve one. "The Soldier;" however, places the aspect that noblity is recieved in the dying for one's country, not how he's buried. Drummer Hodge's main nobility question is the fact to which he wasn't buried at home or given a funeral. "The Soldier" somewhat accepts being thrown in the dirt after death...as long as it was in the name of his country (England). Yet other poets like Sigfried Sassoon sides more with "Drummer Hodge," in "The Rear Guard." In Sasson's poem, he gives a gruesome descriptive scene of war. Although there is no real second meaning in the poem, the reader can tell that the narrator most likely does not like what he is experiencing. The fact that the narrator is running into dead people left and right, along with shells bursting across a battlefield, I doubt very seriously that this narrator cares much about nobility in dying, than just not dying.
Comment to Jeremy:
That’s a good point Jeremy makes about Drummer Hodge deserving a noble death, but did not receive one, whereas the soldier basically just feels as though it is an honor to die for your country regardless of where you end up being buried. I am sure Drummer Hodge would feel the same way this soldier felt had he had his choice in his final resting place as well.
Also, I see your point about the “Rear Guard”, it seems as though he doesn’t wrap his attention around the issues that go along with dying, because he is more concerned about living.
"Drummer Hodge" explains the carelessness of a dead soldier in the war. The speaker talks about how he will forever rest in a place he never knew. Instead of dying old in a home he dies on the field.
In "Soldier" the speaker talks about the honor of dying for country and cause. Where ever he may end up, the soldier dies for England.
Dying with honor doesnt seem to be what the speaker is thinking about in "Rear Guard." He steps over the dead left and right seeing all the mutilation.He is horrified at the site but doesn't talk about the honorable dead before him. Just the sadness of his fellow comrades laying dead.
In reply to Milia,
I really like your comparison for "To His Love." It does completely oppose Brooke's poem but in a slightly different way from Hardy's. Because in "Drummer Hodge" not only is the fact that the soldier died horrible but his burial is nonexistent. But in "To His Love" the soldier has a proper burial and funeral and everything but it doesn't really matter because the soldier should not have died in the first place.
Comment to Dakota:
I agree with you that the solider will be placed to rest somewhere unknown to him; but I do not see the carelessness of the burial. I see it has the other soldiers has having no other option than to bury the body where fallen soldier gave his life for his country. I also agree with you that on the poem “Soldier” the speaker tone is dying for country is honorable. I like what you said about the soldier being mutated, it give the reader a gruesome feeling of what war is really like.
The speaker in "Drummer Hodge" gives his perspective on how isolated and useless the death of Drummer Hodge was. Line 5 says, "And foreign constellations west", thus meaning that Drummer Hodge has died far away from his home, somewhere "foreign" he does not recognize. His death was just useles, found in a plain desert where there is literally NOTHING around for hime to feel at home in any way or form.
However, in the poem "The Soldier", the soldier seems to be so patriotic about dying for his country and does not mind at all where he dies. Wherever he may rest, he feels it will be an honor to be the representation for England and that it will be a blessing to die wherever that may be. This is shown through line 4, "In that rich earth a richer dust concealed".
The poem "They", however, is a great contrast to "Drummer Hodge" and "The Soldier". "They" is about a Bitishop who thinks that thw soldiers won't come back both internally AND externally different. He is proven wrong and sees that some have come blind and others with body parts missing. This is the true seeing of the damages war can cause, unlike where Brooke's poem is very proud of dying for his country, and where Hardy's is a very isolated death.
In Reply to Felicite,
I agree with you Felicite that in "The Soldier", death is seen as a symbol of pride. Basically anywhere the soldier dies, that location where the soldier dies will be a blessd location because he has proudly fough for his country and is patriotic about representing England. And yes, "Drummer Hodge" is a very isolated death, where his body is just left wondering, WHERE on earth he is, not recognizing any surroundings. I see the different view you are giving about the Drummer Hodge not being burried as careless but just because they see no other option that to leave him, WHERE he has served his country. The poem "To His Love", is in fact a death that is very traditional an mourned by his family, just like you mention.
Lisbeth
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