The theme of sacrifice and patriotism is often covered in poetry; the idea of dying for one's country is a supremely romantic ideal. However, this idea can be expressed in many different ways. Ostensibly, the story of both Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" and Thomas Hardy's "Drummer Hodge" is quite the same; a dying soldier's legacy is described and contemplated during or after dying behind enemy lines. However, the way in which each poet demonstrates their attitudes toward the subject of patriotic sacrifice separates these poems greatly. While "The Soldier" gives a personal account of the pride one feels about dying for their country, the story of "Drummer Hodge" is much more cynical, as a young poor drummer is unceremoniously dumped behind enemy territory, forever to be lost in a foreign soil.
"The Soldier" offers the tale of a soldier who, it must be noted, has not died yet, nor may not die. "If I die, think only this of me" (line 1). This may color the perspective of the poem somewhat, as it does not deal with the actual consequences of death, but merely the likelihood or possibility of it - the soldier ruminates on what might happen if he were to die. He wants to be cleansed, he wants to feel better about the possibility of dying; this scenario allows him to do so. With "Drummer Hodge," the poor boy is already dead, and the ostensible narrator of the poem is a group of soldiers who came across him in battle. The sudden and unceremonious nature of his burial is established in the opening lines of the poem - "They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest / Uncoffined - just as found" (lines 1-2). The way in which each person is treated by their country or countrymen is much different - while The Soldier believes that England is kind to him, making him appreciate his sacrifice, Drummer Hodge is just dumped in a hole by his fellow soldiers.
One of the primary differences in perspective between the two poems is how they treat the idea of someone dying and being buried in enemy territory. In "The Soldier," the soldier thinks of his potential death behind enemy lines as setting up an outpost where England will forever reign. "There's some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England" (lines 2-3). The soldier is very proud of England, and his status as an Englishman, as he states that "There shall be / In that rich earth a richer dust concealed" (lines 304). Because he perished there, that specific ground is made better, because a part of England now resides there. He describes England as a place that fed him, clothed him, and raised him; he belongs to England. This patriotism makes him feel as though he is taking the land where he does for England itself, making his death an incredible accomplishment.
However, "Drummer Hodge" tells a different story, making the prospect of being buried far from home a terrifying prospect. Hodge's body will be quickly forgotten, and become part of a new place, somewhere that the man himself did not know, but where he is permanently stuck: "Yet portion of that unknown plain / Will Hodge forever be" (lines 13-14). Hodge's unfamiliarity with the area is emphasized in the poem - "Young Hodge the Drummer never knew - / Fresh from his Wessex home - / The meaning of the broad Karoo, / The Bush, the dusty loam" (lines 7-10). This means he has no significance or attachment to this area, and that it would mean nothing for him to be buried there. This is much different from the broad stay-the-course optimism of Brooke's soldier.
In the end, the main difference is the level of peace at which the soldier in question is left after their death. Brooke's soldier knows that he will always be "in hearts at peace, under an English heaven" (Brooke, line 14) - meaning that, no matter where he is, he will always be English, and wherever he lays rest will be England. However, poor Drummer Hodge does not get that luxury; he is left behind, "His homely Northern breast and brain / Grow to some Southern tree" (Hardy, lines 15-16).
In conclusion, "The Soldier" and "Drummer Hodge" take very different perspectives to the prospect of dying for one's country. Brooke's soldier sees the event as a proud privilege, a chance to give back to the country he holds dear. However, with Drummer Hodge, the boy who dies for his country is simply left there without any sense of respect or dignity. We get no impression other than that he was a scared, unprepared boy who is buried far from where he wants to be. To that end, England does not give back to him - it merely takes his life and offers nothing in return.
References
Brooke, R. (1914). "The Soldier."
Hardy, T. "Drummer Hodge."
