About

Genius Annotation

This patriotic poem is an expression of thanks for being able to respond to the call to arms. It suggests that life of domestic peace has grown stale, that this military opportunity brings honour, and that death can be accepted.

The title is ironic, but is intended to encapsulate the idea that inner, spiritual peace comes out of fighting for an honourable cause.

It reads strangely with hindsight, given what is known of the conduct of the Great War, but reflects the time through which Brooke lived. Many were fired up with patriotism and ideas of “glory”.

Structure
Brooke chose a sonnet structure for this poem. Sonnets traditionally express solemn, philosophical themes and is therefore appropriate. He does, however, depart from the classic sonnet metre of iambic pentameter, varying this, for example in line five with an anapaest in the phrase “from a world”. Lines nine and twelve also depart from a regular rhythm.

There is a regular rhyme scheme forming the pattern ABAB CDCD EFG EFG. Feminine rhyme endings in the “—ing” words like “sleeping” and “leaping” create a sense of lightness and optimism.

The classic sonnet usually includes a volta or turn, where a new idea or change of philosophical direction is introduced. However, here there is no definite point where this occurs, although the end of line eight is the most likely, depending on interpretation.

Language and Imagery
The voice is that of a third person narrator, we can assume the poet. The tone is solemn, reflecting the speaker’s positive feelings about the War. Imagery — for example the leaping swimmers and the “sick hearts” is designed to contrast the freshness of the new opportunity with the dreariness of life as it was.

ABOUT SONNETS

A sonnet is a poem which expresses a thought or idea and develops it, often cleverly and wittily. It is made up of 14 lines, each being 10 syllables long. Its rhymes are arranged according to one of the following schemes:

• Italian, where eight lines consisting of two quatrains make up the first section of the sonnet, called an octave. This will open the the poem with a question or an idea. It is followed by the next section of six lines called a sestet, that forms the ‘answer’ or a counter-view. This style of sonnet is also sometimes called a Petrarchan sonnet.

• English which comprises three quatrains, making twelve lines, followed by a rhyming couplet. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. Edmund Spenser’s sonnets are a variant.

At the break in the sonnet — in Italian after the first eight lines, in English after twelve lines — there is a ‘turn’ or volta, after which there will be a change or new perspective on the preceding idea.

Most English sonnets of the sixteenth and seventeenth century are in iambic pentameter, that is five metrical ‘feet’ or ‘iambs’ — that is ten syllables — per line. This gives a stately, elegant rhythm.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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