The Soldier Death Quotes

The speaker is not afraid of death at all. He expresses no reservations or terror about the unknown. Later in the poem, it becomes clear why this is so: death is merely the beginning of a new, more peaceful afterlife.

The speaker avoids talking about death directly. He uses "dust" instead of "corpse," and "concealed" instead of "buried." This could mean that he's afraid to talk about death too openly, or it could mean that he doesn't think of death in conventional ways.

After using the word dust, the speaker firmly reminds us that he's talking about a dead soldier. The word "body" makes us think of a lifeless corpse, not a human being.