Comparative commentary of “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke, and “Colonization in Reverse” by Louise Bennett

“The Soldier “by Rupert Brooke is a sonnet written at the beginning of the World War One. This Brook’s sonnet expresses his love for England and how he believed is right to fight and die for his country. Therefore, it is a very idealistic and traditional viewpoint poem. “Colonization in reverse” by Louise Bennett, was written around 1966.This poem provides the readers a historical context for many minorities of the Jamaicans such as racial inequality living in the United Kingdom in post-colonial time. Both texts are seen as patriotic poems that describe a lot of English culture talking about history and nationality. For analyzing these peoms I will compare and contrast the use and relevance on a language in each text, some details or images used on them and their importance and the main idea that the authors wants to communicate.

The relevance of the language is very important in both poems. In “The Soldier”, Brooke uses a colloquial English of the years around 1915. This sonnet has an alternate line rhyme and uses some metaphors to show his love for his country, also he personifies England when he says: “Her sights and sounds, dreams happy as her day”. In the short extension of the poem he repeats England in a very patriotic way.  In “Colonization in reverse”, Louise used a kind of Jamaican English, that shows the big differences between Jamaica and the UKs way of speaking English. In this poem the language is very common and colloquial, its seems to be a broken English but I think it is just a Jamaican variation. It has a figurative sense:

"Oonoo see how life is funny,
Oonoo see da turnabout?
jamaica live fe box bread
Out a English people mout"

In this stanza we can see how the author makes the poem in the way she wants to express her thoughts; he told the history in reverse, changing the countries roles and the historic facts. She shows a kind of humor to make the poem interesting. Also when you read the poem you can realize that it sounds like a song with a Jamaican pronunciation of English. The extension of the poem is larger than “The soldier”.

Some details shown in both poems are the specific words, which reflect a big idea in less space to make the reader think about it. These specific words are very important because they describe and maintain the structure and the main idea of each poem. In “The soldier” it is very clear to understand how the author thinks about England:

“Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven”

Here, he fully describes the beautifulness idea in a very nice way, how his country is for him and what he could give for it, giving an example of patriotism. In “Colonization in reverse” every word reflects the Jamaican origin of the text; the poem arguments many ideas based on colonization history specifically in Jamaica giving a common example o injustice but also the Jamaican independence:

“Jane says de dole is not too bad
Because dey payin she
Two pounds a week fe seek a job
dat suit her dignity”

In the poems “The soldier” and “Colonization in reverse” we can get many images or kind of view of the England and Jamaica. So, the readers can visualize a history or a physical or historial description of the countries. Both poems are coherent and structured; they are written for a main objective: share the author’s critical thinking about their country, and also these opinions will reflect the many other people that thinks in that way about their countries. Each poem has its essence and shows its origin without even knowing the name of the author.

As a conclusion I can affirm that the authors always try to express themselves in their works. These two poems reflect many feelings, generally from the countries people thoughts. I think there’s a lot to learn and get from a poem; because there’s a lot behind of every word.  You can get history, feelings, idealistic thoughts and many other things that together reflect not only the critical thinking of the author but the perception of someone who belongs to a place, speaks a language and play an important role in the world.