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The First World War poetry can be seen to fall into three phases. The poetry written at the
beginning of the war – 'The Illusion' – is characterised by an unreal conception of war, by
lyrical, hopeful, patriotic verse glorifying fighting and welcoming death. The second phase –
'The Reality' – results from the experience of war, especially after the Battle of the Somme.
The third phase is 'The Aftermath', where those poets who survived look back and reflect on
the cost. It is possible to appreciate the depth of the poetry of the Great War by examining the
work of three poets (all officers): Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Rupert Brooke epitomises the idealistic pro-war poetry of the early years, in which war is
seen as noble, patriotic and chivalrous. His poetry reflects an unreal conception of war.
Emotional, sentimental, romantic, his poems are full of honour and glory; patriotism; an
emphasis on England; the mystique of youth- the kind of sentiments held by many young
Englishmen at the outbreak of the war.
In the break out of the First World War, Brooke was assigned to the Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve in 1914 where he became encompassed with the politics of warfare and poetry.
Unlike other famous war poets, Brooke experienced little action first hand, the most notable
occasion being the Siege of Antwerp in October 1914. His experience, however, fuelled his
passion to write and he produced five patriotic sonnets about warfare titled ‘1914’, the
sequence was first published in the periodical New Numbers (number 4) in January 1915.
The first sonnet ‘Peace’ details the young man’s call to war, and how he is released from
daily grievances like illness and grief to embrace war with no worry of the consequences. The
irony is that the poem’s subject matter is war and yet the poem is titled as ‘Peace’ as the
poem talks about how war has brought inner peace to the combatants.
The poem ‘Peace’, begins with a form of public prayer where the speaker appears to be a
spokesperson of the pre-war world, expressing his thankfulness to God for being born, and
subsequently living, at a glorious time in the history of the world – the time of the First
World War. He considers this as the greatest fortune for his generation as war has given them
a purpose in life. Brooke goes on to say that war has made both their hands and their vision
keen, both their bodies and their minds sharp and strong, and he compares this to the
cleansing effect of a dive in clear water and considers the war as a moral-cleanser which will
help the society to purify itself. Portraying the war as a cleansing event is a unique notion, but
perhaps it is this differential view of war that makes Brooke such a great poet of war. Here,
the swimmer cleansing himself from the filth by diving into sparkling clean water are images
of baptism and ablution. Brooke does not regard war as a corrupted and wasteful enterprise,
but as a rite of passage that every young man needs to experience in his life. Against such
young men, he contrasts the old world – the world before 1914, before the start of the First
World War. That world was “cold” and “weary” he says, not youthful and energetic like the
soldiers of his generation, not warmed by the passion for a rightful fight. The hearts of men
of the older generation were “sick”. Here “sick” does not signify physical weakness as much
as it does moral degeneration, for the honour that comes with battle could not move those
men. Brooke feels that a man who cannot fight for right, who feels no impulse to protest
against injustice is not a man at all. He may appear to be human, but in heart and mind he is
certainly not so. That is why Brooke labels such people as “half-men”.
The beginning of the Sestet turns from the grim corruption of the past to the “release” war
brings. Brooke says that the youth of his generation have felt shame for their previous
actions, both mistakes and indifference, but war has given them a sense of relief and freedom
from such thoughts. In fact, all the damage that is attributed to war – “ill” and “grief” – is
temporary. A good night’s sleep can make it all disappear. The body may be weakened by
war, and young men may stop breathing, but in their hearts they shall be happy. They shall
laugh with no inhibitions, with no shame. As a result, they will achieve a long-lasting sense
of peace. This peace can refer both to mental restfulness, and the peace of death (as the last
two lines of the poem hint). Brooke says that since war involves killing one’s opponents who
belong to the other side, it can sometimes result in agony, but that agony also comes to an end
with death. Brooke calls Death (now personified) both a friend and an enemy of soldiers,
since it takes away life, but brings meaning to their lives as well when they die a peaceful
death for a just cause.
Previously, the youth had been asleep and unaware of all the injustices being practiced by
their fellow men, but war has awoken them into consciousness, and inspired them to stand up
for what is right. Brooke welcomes war as a cleansing event which helps society purify itself.
It moves the stagnant society into action. His generation is one of masculine pursuits. Love
and women are dangerous to this value system: they threaten the purity of men. Brooke was,
ultimately a youthful and naïve ex-public schoolboy who had seen little of the world. Thus,
Brooke mentions the contrasts running through the poem i.e. action/inaction;
purification/corruption; waking/sleep; patriotism/romantic love.
Brooke in his poem talks about war but he never mentioned the word itself. As we know that
war is all about murdering people and blood, colonizing others’ countries, taking others’
rights and hence it is a terrible thing, whereas to have peace inside one’s soul, one should do
the good things. And as Brooke wanted to show the good view of war to the world, he
combined peace and war together. He mentioned that the war itself can save one’s country
and their future youth from violence and thus can help gaining peace by doing so. Thus, the
title of the poem is justified. Brooke’s optimism encouraged men to enlist: his poetry was
used by recruiters - certainly not his intentions, which may have been to make death in war
seem noble. His poetry did a great deal to win the public to war poetry, making later poets
have a greater influence (Sassoon and Owen).

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