Verses 3 and 5 seem very similar when reading the poem, however in contrast the charge is towards the gunners in Verse 3 whereas it is the retreat in Verse 5. Yet Tennyson always keeps the repetition of 600 throughout the poem, even when they are retreating and many of them have already been killed he continues to refer to them as one group of six hundred that make up the Light Brigade. The glory of the charge seems to continue throughout the poem; even so Tennyson does inform the reader that ‘Someone had blundered’ which was the initial reason for the charge on the Russian gunners. Tennyson also uses alliteration within the Dramatic and highly coloured language ‘While horse and hero fell”, the word hero is used as if every single soldier will be recognised as a patriot.
The final verse of the poem gives the most emphasis about the glory of the charge. ‘When will their glory fade?’ Tennyson includes this rhetorical question to say that in the minds of the readers, they will always be brave, glorious and patriotic. He finishes the poem keeping the Light Brigade together in life and in death, that they will be 600 strong regardless, ‘Noble six hundred.’
‘Who’s for the Game?’ the title of the poem by Jessie Pope gives an immediate effect on the reader. The soul purpose of the poem is to encourage people to enlist for the army. The title instantly refers to war being a game that you play, this can for m in reader’s minds as a sport, of something fun to do with your friends, completely removing the idea of pain, suffering and death.
The poem has a very simple rhythm, yet it is very strong and helps to give power to the message that Pope is trying to convey. The simplicity of the poem is increased by using language similar to that of conversation. The formality of the poem has therefore been lowered and would appeal more to the generation of men that they are trying to recruit for the war. Pope emphasises on the idea of war being a game by saying that although the war is tough it is still fun and you should be able to take it like a man. ‘And who wants a seat in the stand?’ Pope is suggesting that it would be cowardly to watch it from safety.
Both Tennyson and Pope elaborate on the idea of war being heroic and bold, mentioning that although it is tough and you will come back maybe with a bruise and a cut that most men will think they would easily be able to stand. Pope has focused mainly on giving a very trivialized account of war to the generation of men who they want to enlist to fight.
Wilfred Owen was a poet in the First World War where he fought and died, in contrast to Pope’s and Tennyson’s poetry Wilfred Owen portrays a graphic account of his experience and views on war. This way Owen is able to use his knowledge and memories of real-life battles to express in his poetry giving a completely opposite attitude about war compared to the two previous poems I have looked at. In his poem ‘Anthem for doomed youth’, Owen has used a lot of dramatic language to describe the life of a soldier in the First World War, using aural imagery to describe what the soldiers have to go through everyday. ‘What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?’ This line right at the beginning of the poem instantly removes any idea of glory and patriotism, the strong contrast being dying as cattle or dying as heroes.
The title of the poem also give it strong impact on the reader, the word ‘doomed’ and ‘youth’ being the main focus; representing the idea that there are many young men (representing innocence by their age) out fighting and dying in vain, the fact that it is doomed is that it was still happening at the time of when the poem was being written and the rest of the soldier were doomed to die regardless of their efforts in the war. The poem itself seems to be more of a prayer to the soldiers fighting as it has a very slow pace to it and not much rhythmic effects compared to the up-beat rhythms of Pope and Tennyson. Although Tennyson and Pope have described the honour in dying for one’s country, Owen has put that view into perspective; that soldiers that are killed will not be thought of and there will be no true funeral for them, as they will be buried there and then if they are buried at all. The speed of the poem seems to represent a funeral march as if Owen was dedicating it as a funeral for all the dead or dying soldiers in the War at the time.
Owen uses alliteration to create an onomatopoeic effect ‘rifles’ rapid rattle,’ when pronounced has the rhythmic effect of sounding like firing guns. Owen uses a lot of aural imagery and graphic imagery in this poem to focus on the noises and sights of the war ‘choirs of wailing shells’ and ‘holy glimmers of goodbyes,’ the holy glimmers representing church candles which would have been the light in the young men’s eyes; flashes from explosions, gunshots and fire.
Owen also wrote the poem ‘Dulce et decorum est’ with the same attitudes towards war as ‘Anthem for Doomed youth.’ However, we can see that originally, Owen had intended to dedicate the poem to Jessie Pope herself in response to her poetry about war, yet in the final version this is not so. The attitudes appear to be completely opposite and in far greater graphic detail than ‘Anthem for doomed youth.’
Dulce et decorum est is far less generalised that Owen’s pervious poem. He has incorporated a specific moment in his life into the poem and he has done so with great detail. By using simile, Owen describes the dirtiness and ugliness of the war, ‘like hags’ and ‘like beggars’. This detail continues throughout the poem including onomatopoeia to describe the dirtiness ‘And towards our distant rest we began to trudge.’
The poem changes speed into the second stanza as the Gas attack on his squadron begins. The adrenaline and excitement is felt strongly by the reader through the Panic there is for the soldiers to get their Gas masks on. ‘An ecstasy of humbling.’ Owen uses great graphic detail upon describing the death of the soldier. ‘As under a green sea I saw him drowning.’ Here Owen is referring to the chlorine gas that is a misty green colour and causes your lungs to fill with liquid. This graphic detail allows the reader to vividly picture the death in front of them. As the poem is written in first person, the picture seems much more real and makes the reader feel much more involved within the story that is being told.
The final stanza describes in great detail once again the dead soldier from the gas attack. ‘Behind the wagon we flung him in.’ The soldier is simply thrown into a wagon without any funeral or lasting memory. Once again the reader gets a vivid picture in their mind of what the soldier looks like ‘froth –corrupted lungs’ and ‘devil’s sick of sin’. Owen uses a large amount of adjectives to describe him as well using the ugliness of it to emphasise the torture that he has just been through.
The encouragement from Sassoon allowed Owen to truly express his final feelings towards war once he had himself been in it. The story that Owen tells in ‘Dulce et decorum est’ defies the idea of glory from beginning to end. ‘If in some smothering dreams you could pace.’ Owen lets the readers realise that this nightmare is what really happens in war and that he sees it in reality. Owen finishes the poem with the same amount of power that he has incorporated throughout the poem by finally directly defying the glorious attitude of war; ‘The old lie ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’ – Sweet and right it is to die for your country.
