“The Dead” is a Shakespearean sonnet (consisting of three quatrains and a couplet), which expresses mourning and praise for the lives lost in war through beautiful imagery and contrasts. The poem is divided into two main parts.
The first part(two quatrain)depicts the vivid life experiences of the deceased before their passing – joy, sorrow, friendship, love, the beauty of nature, etc., emphasizing that they were once complete “humans”, possessing rich emotions and memories. The closing line “All this is ended” highlights the sudden cessation of life, echoing the title.

The second part (one quatrain and one cuplet)shifts to the description of natural scenes, such as the wind caressing the water surface and frost freezing the ripples, symbolizing that although life has ended, the world continues to operate and nature is eternal. The final imagery of “white, complete glory” and “broad, shining peace” bestows upon the deceased a sense of solemnity and tranquility beyond death.
Core theme
· The contrast between life and death: The deceased once had a complete life, but war brought it to an abrupt end.
· The juxtaposition of the transient and the eternal: The world changes, but nature’s cycle continues unceasingly; the spirits of the deceased transform into eternal beauty.
· War and sacrifice: Implicitly paying tribute to the soldiers, their sacrifice is endowed with “unbroken glory”.
Relevant Connections
Similar to “Suicide in the Trenches”, both depict the contrast of young people from innocence and freedom to despair and destruction before and after the war. The poem has a strict structure, rich imagery (such as “woven” and “frost”), and employs personification and parallelism to enhance its appeal.
Conclusion
This poem is not merely a lament; it places the passing of an individual within the eternal embrace of nature and peace, bestowing upon death a noble serenity and embodying Brooke’s poetic tribute to the fallen.

Sorry for using AI for summarizing the comments, but here is my own points based on the comments.

in the last line, it said “A width, a shining peace, under the night.”this means that they could make a small piece of peace, the world need more generations to cure.

The poem use lots of enjambment to symbolize the problems and hard of stoping war, but it also symbolizes that we need to slow down and cut big steps into small ones, especially huge mission like stop and ending war.

thank for every one who helps!!!!!!!!!(nobody helps me…………………………get that?)

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