The Dead - Rupert Brooke

Form:

- The start of the poem begins with alliteration: “blow out, you bugles”, this harsh, plosive ‘b’ sound helps to portray the action out on the front-line.
- Stanza length increases as the poem develops, as if he is coming nearer to reaching his own death.

Language:

- Brooke states that death is superior as it “has made us rarer gifts than gold”, suggesting that death is a reward/privilege out at war.
- The use of monosyllabic words shows feelings of aggression and anger.
- The line: “poured out the red sweet wine of youth”, displays an image of blood, therefore suggesting that the youth have wasted their lives by sacrificing themselves for no real cause.

Structure:

- The use of exclamation marks helps to exaggerate the poet’s feelings towards the dead.
- The use of full-stops help to present the inevitability of death, and it also brings a blunt and direct tone to the poem.

Tone:

- Death appears quite tranquil and peaceful to the poem; as he describes it as an “unhoped serene”.
- War brought “holiness”, “love”, “pain”, and “honour” to countries – presents that although war has taken the youth from a country, it has also given particular qualities back to a country.

Reader response:

- Modern readers may find it difficult to comprehend that the men saw death as escapism; they may not be able to understand that the men would have rather died that stayed out at war; they can’t imagine the conditions the men endured.

Links :

- Wasted youth: ‘Recruiting’ by E.A.Mackintosh.
- Sense of embracing the dead: ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McRae.