Question

[25 POINTS] What does the “dust” mentioned in lines 4-5 likely represent? Cite evidence to support your answer.

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;

A body of England’s, breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blessed by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Answer 1

Answer:

The dust represents his body / his ashes.

Explanation:

The dust in lines 4-5 probably represents the man's body or his "dust" buried in the ground. He describes it as a "richer" dust than the earth, meaning that it's of a higher quality, maybe, or made of a different material, which it is.

He later goes on to describe it as once having been "[a] body of England’s, breathing English air". This is pretty much a clear indication that the "dust" is his body, when he's dead.