Just from looking at the authors of these poems we can see how and why these poems differ.
The first real difference is that Owen writes directly about what he sees. In Dulce et Decorum est there are no charges or heroics, just the reality of human suffering and the truth about war. To convey the suffering of these men Owen uses good effective imagery in his poem:
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”.
These few lines set up the poem for us. We see that the men are tired, weary and sick, yet they have to carry on. We also see where these men are. We see a picture of these men trudging through a trench full of water and mud, many sick and all exhausted. By doing this Owen at once captures his audience, who all want to know what fate awaits these poor men. Owen continues to write about how the men are suffering from lethargy throughout this first stanza.
In the first stanza from Charge of the Light Brigade, we have none of these feelings. The image that is in our minds is one of bravery. We see no dead men, no men who are dying. We see an army on horseback, in clean suits. This poem is like a clean version of the war.
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said;
Into the valley of death
Rode the six hundred.”
In the first stanza there is no real details. No feelings or emotions are talked about. Only the fact that these men are charging towards their imminent death.
Although Charge of the Light Brigade does not use a lot of imagery, there is some in the poem. It is more noble and majestic than in Dulce et Decorum est where the imagery used is shocking and creates an almost sickening mood. Both the poems use imagery well and so they become more vivid. It is those images that create the moods of the poems; Dulce et Decorum est has a very sad yet angry mood to it while Charge of the Light Brigade has an almost cheerful mood.
The two poets aim their poems at different people also. Owen was a soldier in the first world war. He spent months in the trenches in disgusting conditions, as shown by the way the soldiers “Cursed through sludge”. He saw many people die painful, agonising deaths, and as he was involved in one of the most destructive wars in history he takes a very un-favourable view of propaganda. His poem is aimed at those poets, like Tennyson, who wrote about the glory and honour of fighting for your country. I can see this by the use of “you” in his poem. Upon first looking at the poem you may thing that it is directed at anybody but when you really start to analyse the poem you can see that it, in fact is talking to those people who promote propaganda.
“If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing In his face,
His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin;”
This experience would be unpleasant for anybody, but for someone who has not been to war, but promotes it all the same, it would be torture. In stanza three we see the real meaning to Owen’s poem. This stanza sums up his whole poem and directs it to the promoters of war. I think that if I promoted war, reading this poem would make me feel awful.
Tennyson however writes exactly about what Owen begs people not to do. Tennyson writes to the people. People who may want to enlist. Being the Poet Laureate, Tennyson did not see the war but relied on the accounts of the soldiers. Probably high ranking generals, who were far away from any danger. This poem may have been read to young boys training to fight as it tells them that they will die a hero’s death, not a fool’s one. You can almost see the scene now. A hundred boys in a big hall, with some high ranking generals sitting on a stage at the front. One person reading this poem and telling the boys that although they will probably die they will die an honourable death. It is easy to see that this poem was used to get people to enlist.
The two writers try to make their poems as realistic as possible. In Wilfred Owens poem he uses the senses to make it more realistic.
“If you could hear at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile incurable sores on innocent tongues,”
You have an impression of what the taste was like. How malignant it was. It puts you in the place and makes you see and feel like Owen did, or still does. The descriptive use of the senses makes the poem more effective and authentic. For Example:
In Tennyson’s poem he does not involve the senses but uses commands and discipline to make the poem more genuine.
“Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:”
This discipline brings the poem to a more down to earth level making the poem more convincing. However it does say that the soldiers were expected to die, again bringing in the heroic feeling that shrouds this poem.
The first simile that Owen uses is “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,”. This is rather strange as an army is supposed to be well presented. “Many had lost their boots, but limped on, blood-shod” also tells us that the soldiers are poorly equipped. We begin to understand the pain and suffering that the soldiers had to go through. Owen uses a lot of very shocking phrases in this poem. “Like a devils sick of sin” this simile is maybe the most shocking and discomforting line of the poem. For a devil to be sick of sin is unimaginable, as a devil thrives on sin. So it suggests that the expression on the boys face is totally unimaginable. Owen uses a lot of powerful words and phrases throughout this poem to convey the suffering of the soldiers.
Both the poems use action in them to create a more exciting atmosphere. In Charge of the Light Brigade we have the phrase “Forward the Light Brigade, Charge for the guns!”. Whilst in Dulce et Decorum est we have “Gas! Gas! Quick boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling”. This phrase also gives us an oxymoron, as I very much doubt that they were happy about fumbling for their masks in a gas attack.
The rhyming schemes used in the two poems are also very different. The Charge of the Light Brigade is a chant. This has a very important effect on the poem. It makes it sound more cheerful and almost like a child’s poem. Using a chant was very clever of Tennyson as it lifts the mood of what the poem is about, and makes it a lot jollier, so much so that you don’t recognise that the poem is talking about death.
The poem does not really rhyme but does have the occasional rhyming couplet or triplet such as:
“ Plunged in the battery smoke,
Right thro’ the line they broke;”
By having a few rhyming words in the poem it puts an emphasis on the lines. In Dulce et Decorum est every other line rhymes. This again creates a powerful effect, and links the poem together in it’s structure.
Finally let us look at the closing lines of the poems. In The Charge of the Light Brigade the closing lines are really the last stanza. They sum up what the poem is about and again talk of bravery and heroics. It poses the question “When can their glory fade?”. This is a rhetorical question because it expects no answer, only the knowledge that their glory will never fade. The ending to Dulce et Decorum est is very powerful. You could just read the end of it and understand what the poem is about. It addresses it’s intended audience and uses Latin very cleverly to create a very hard-hitting, saddening final line.
“The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
Personally I think that Dulce et Decorum est is the better of the two poems. It addresses war realistically and tells the truth and the raw details of war. It has a clear pace and the words really cut through you. I dislike Charge of the Light Brigade for its treatment of war. It makes it sound like an all right event, when it is much the opposite. Although I do admire the way Tennyson has made such an awful thing sound almost romantic.