What are the themes and techniques used in the poem "The Soldier's Dream"?

"The Soldier's Dream" is narrated by the eponymous soldier and is set during a war, on a battlefield. As night falls, the soldier dreams of his youth and of his loved ones only to awake once more to the sorrow of the battlefield.
One key theme in the poem is the impact of war. In the first stanza, the soldier describes the "Thousands" of soldiers who lie "sunk on the ground overpower'd." Some of those "thousands" lie down, wounded: waiting to die. One technique that the poet uses to emphasize the sadness of war is the flashback.
The soldier's dream serves as a series of flashbacks, first to his youth (which he describes metaphorically as "Life's morning march") and then to the moment he said goodbye to his loved ones. The moment when he said goodbye is described very emotionally. His children "kiss'd [him] a thousand times," and his wife "sobb'd aloud." This description of the moment he said goodbye emphasizes the speaker's loneliness on the battlefield.
Another technique used in the poem is the semantic field of language connoting death, desolation, and despair. Words like "sunk," "weary," "wounded," "dreadful," "desolate," and "worn" are used throughout the poem. These words create a backdrop of death, desolation, and despair which echoes the battleground backdrop of the soldier's circumstances.