Compare and contrast the poet's attitudes to and experiences of war in

Compare and contrast the poet's attitudes to and experiences of war in

Drummer Hodge and The soldier - How does the poet's use of language

effect the readers' perception of war?

Drummer Hodge is written about the Boer war (around 1899 - 1902),

which was a war between the British and the Boers. The feature of the

poem is a Wessex drummer boy who was killed in this war.

The poem starts with the end of the boy's life as his body is disposed

of practically, with no dignity, this gives the reader the idea that

war has a bigger picture and the life of one boy does not matter as

long as the country prevails; "They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest

Uncoffined - just as found" this gives the image across that the boy

was buried with no dignity, no ceremony and with indifference. From

this the reader clearly gets a rather horrible and cold image of the

war and the way in which people were disposed of, the line also

expresses how much life is lost in a war.

The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a

pile of rocks over his body. I think this shows the way that in war,

you die and know body knows were you are, so nobody can come to your

grave to mourn you. "His landmark is a kopje-crest" in some ways the

poet tries to tell us that the land surrounding the boy's grave has

become part of him and the land will respect him and give him his

dignity. This may give the reader the thought that in war maybe the

best way out is death as you will then be eternally respected.

In the last lines of the first stanza the poet writes about how the

boy entered the war in a foreign place and there is nothing familiar

to him; "And foreign constellations west Each night above his mound."

The poet writes about how he was buried under a foreign sky in a strange

place which was far away from his home. This gives the reader the

impression that Drummer Hodge is more of a memory as he died so far

away from his home.

The second stanza goes on to explain the way in which he was

unprepared for the war: "Young Hodge the Drummer Never knew - Fresh

from his wessex home." The poet has written about how the young boy

did not know what he had let himself in for, the young boy did not