From Patriotism to Realism.

From patriotism to realism.

A review by Michiel IJsseldijk

The Great War: endless bitterness, rivalry and struggling. Armies situated in muddy trenches. Trenches full of dead bodies and rats. Poison gas attacks. Soldiers and civilians exposed to extreme physical conditions. Millions of casualties and thousands of destroyed houses.

The First World War seems to be the most emotional and useless war ever fought.

It seems hard to imagine that before the war, lots of soldiers and civilians on both sides, supported the war. The war would mean the end of the gap between the rich and poor in England. Moreover, England was characterized by militarism and patriotism. Rupert Brooke was very patriotic and he loved the fact that the war broke out. He was a young man that enjoyed the rise of his growing reputation as a poet. He was fearless, ambitious and successful. His poems contained lots of examples of his patriotic thoughts and optimism on the start of the war. The beautiful poem 'Peace' is the one of the best examples of this. It shows an enthusiasm and optimism that most of the soldiers, civilians and also poets lost already after a few months of war. This shows why Brooke is still seen as the most remarkable war poet. Examples of criticism on Brooke was that he underestimated the problems the war brought. But before the war, it wasn't strange to think that the war would last only a few months. Also, Brooke already died in the first year of war.

Like many of Brooke's poems, the poem 'Peace' is a Sonnet. But it is slightly different compared to a normal Sonnet. The Volta - which is in every Sonnet - is not really visible in this poem. The octave starts immediately with the great change the war brings along, and the sextet functions merely to detail this change further. In a normal Sonnet there is a clear division in style between the octave and the sestet.

In the poem, Brooke describes his opinion with regard to the war. The poem also tells the situation of Brooke's personal life. The well chosen words Brooke uses to emphasis his optimism are beautiful. The metaphorical use of language he uses to tell his inner thoughts is impressive and striking. The patriotic ideas Brooke wrote in 'Peace', never were as extreme as in poems of other war poets who supported the war.