1.7.2 The Soldier

World War One changed the way people viewed war forever. It introduced the world to modern warfare – and all its horrors – and one surprising result was the wave of literature and poems that it inspired, by those fighting on the front line and further afield.

This lesson contains:

• A close look at two famous World War One poems written by soldiers who fought in the war: ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke, and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen.
• An analysis of the two poems and the contrasting and similar approaches they adopt towards fighting in World War One and the soldier experience.
• A closer study of what can be learnt about the soldiers’ experience through reading World War One poetry and an alternative way of studying the realities of trench warfare.