The Soldier

By: Rupert Brooke

Narrated by: Phillip J. Mather

The narrator pledges to donate 50% of his proceeds to The Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal – please support. Rupert Brooke’s poem, The Soldier, contains perhaps the most famous line of any poem of The Great War: “ . . . That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England . . . “

Public Domain (P)2014 Phillip J. Mather

A Love Poem To England From A Dead Soldier

What made the experience of listening to The Soldier the most enjoyable?

The emotional content of this poem made it memorable. In it, a soldier who is preparing to die in war, talks of how England shall always be with him, even in his foreign burial place. He tells, whether to a beloved or a parent, all that England has given him, how blessed he was to have lived under is skies. I found it quite moving.

What did you like best about this story?

The gratitude the unknown soldier feels for England. The lack of any enmity regarding the possibility of his death in her service. It is a personal portrayal of unqualified patriotism.

What does Phillip J. Mather bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration was excellent, and had a dreamlike quality, as if the soldier has closed his eyes and is combing through his memories of England.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It is very short, but a moment in total, so it was all moving.

Narration

This is one of the great poems of the First WW completely spoilt by the wooden narration. I was very disappointed.
Tim