The speaker is an unnamed English soldier participating in World War I. He possesses a deep, idealized love for his homeland and views his potential death not with sorrow, but as a peaceful contribution to his country's eternal legacy. He imagines that his passing will purify his soul and dedicate a piece of foreign earth to his country forever.

England is personified as a maternal entity who bore, shaped, and nurtured the soldier. She provides her citizens with flowers to love, air to breathe, and gentle thoughts. She represents the pastoral ideal and eternal peace that the speaker carries with him into battle.

Rupert is a 27-year-old, Cambridge-educated English poet known for his charming social life. He writes traditional elegies that reflect a sincere, idealized view of patriotism and self-sacrifice. He joins the Royal Naval Division but succumbs to illness before reaching the frontline.

Winston is a prominent English political figure and friend of Rupert Brooke. He deeply admires Brooke's poetry and uses his influence to honor the poet's memory, writing a glowing public obituary after Brooke's untimely death.

Wilfred is a modern elegist and soldier who fights in the trenches and suffers from trauma. Unlike the idealized portrayals of war, he uses poetry to reflect the horrifying realities of mechanical warfare, actively resisting comforting illusions about death in battle.

Siegfried is an injured World War I soldier and poet who publicly protests the continuation of the war. He writes a formal declaration to the House of Commons arguing that the conflict has shifted from defense to senseless aggression.

John is a historical English poet who established the genre conventions of the pastoral elegy. Like Brooke centuries later, he attends Cambridge and writes an elegy as a young man for a deceased peer.

Edward is a young student at Cambridge who dies tragically when his ship sinks during a voyage to Ireland. His premature death prompts his friend to write a foundational pastoral elegy in his honor.

Thomas is a historical poet who added specific formal features, such as interlocking rhyme schemes, to the English elegiac tradition. He pioneered the self-elegy structure that later writers imitate.