Contrast and compare the two poems, 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' and 'Exposure' explaining how the poet's attitude to war is revealed. The poems I have been analysing are
Contrast and compare the two poems, 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' and 'Exposure' explaining how the poet's attitude to war is revealed.
The poems I have been analysing are 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' by Alfred Lord Tennyson and 'Exposure' by soldier poet Wilfred Owen. The Charge Of The Light Brigade was written in 1854 during the Crimean war but after the Battle of Balaclava which is known to be one of the most famous military blunders of all time. The comparisons of these poems are that they are both about war. The second poem was written in the winter of the year 1916-1917 which tells us about the horrific weather the soldiers had to endure. We can find many similarities and techniques used by both poet's to explore the anticipation of battle and the bitter reality of the extreme loss of life. Both poet's write about how the soldiers died for there country and they were very brave. However, the tone and presentation of each poem suggests that the message about war is very different.
'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' was written in the Crimean war in the 1854 but after the Battle of Balaclava which is known to be one of the most horrific military blunders in history. The poem tells us about how the blunder happened and all the people that fell for there country during the war:-
"Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew someone had blundered".
This quote tells us that they didn't know that someone had made a mistake in sending them into the valley and when Lord Cardigan said 'Charge' they didn't know any better so they followed his orders. Many men lost their lives because of the general's mistake.
The poem describes a severe loss of life which raises questions about the barbaric death all these soldiers suffered for their countries. It also shows how brave and noble the men were and this glorifies war:-
"Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they ride and well,
Into the jaws of death,
Into the mouth of hell."
This quote shows that Alfred Lord Tennyson is using sibilance. This is effective as it imitates the sound of constant bullets flying through the air at the troops. He also uses a metaphor to portray Death as a "Fierce Jaws" waiting to swallow up the unsuspecting soldiers. However the quote "Boldly they rode well" suggests that the soldiers were proud to die for their country.
In the poem, Alfred Lord Tennyson uses ...
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"Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they ride and well,
Into the jaws of death,
Into the mouth of hell."
This quote shows that Alfred Lord Tennyson is using sibilance. This is effective as it imitates the sound of constant bullets flying through the air at the troops. He also uses a metaphor to portray Death as a "Fierce Jaws" waiting to swallow up the unsuspecting soldiers. However the quote "Boldly they rode well" suggests that the soldiers were proud to die for their country.
In the poem, Alfred Lord Tennyson uses lots of repetition to create the atmosphere that they were surrounded by cannons and they couldn't get away from them:-
"Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them".
This quote shows us a picture in our minds of cannon's surrounding the soldiers from all angles and that they faced certain death. It shows us that there was no escape from the 'Valley Of Death' and they must have known that they were about to die.
Alfred Lord Tennyson also uses sound by using alliteration and onomatopoeia's. This is where he uses sound to imitate the gunshots. It creates a clear picture of what the atmosphere of the battle was like:-
"Volleyed and thundered,
Stormed at with shot and shell".
This quote shows us that the poet has used sibilance to create the sound of the bullets flying past the soldiers head. "Volleyed and thundered" Is use of onomatopoeia as it shows us the atmosphere of the battle as horses are thundering forward
Also the poet uses tone to give the poem depth and so it doesn't feel flat. the use of onomatopoeia and repetition makes us believe that the soldiers are very scared and distressed. He also makes war seem more honourable as he gives the poem a heroic tone:-
"when can there glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered".
This quote shows us that the poet is using a rhetorical question to tell us that the soldiers glory will never fade as they have been very brace and fought for their country well. He also tells us how much the soldiers didn't know what they was running into.
Lastly, The reason of the poem being wrote is to show the insanity of the leaders to send 600 soldiers the wrong way to their potential deaths. However, he glorifies war by showing how brave the men were to die for there country. It is easy to imagine that this poem can boost the morale of other troops:-
"Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!"
In this quote Tennyson suggests that we should be proud of the soldiers and honour the sacrifice they made. By putting 'noble' in this shows that they were proud to die for their country and it was the only thing to do.
On the other hand, the poem 'Exposure' is much more sadder and it reflects what the soldiers did for their country. However, both poems are about the horror of war. In Owens poem he doesn't say that the soldiers are heroes. It is sad as it sets the tone of the poem and also he doesn't praise the soldiers so there is nothing to be happy about:-
"Watching, we hear the mad gust tugging on the wire,
Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles".
This quote shows us the use of personification as the ferocious winds are pushing and pulling on the barbed wire where the men where dying slowly and endured a painful death on the barbed wires brambles.
The poem 'Exposure' was written by Wilfred Owen Halfway through the first world war. It describes the horrible conditions that the soldiers were put through for four years and without seeing their family:-
"Ours brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us"
This quote shows us that Wilfred Owen uses personification by saying that the wind "knives" and is stabbing them over and over again. Their brains ache because they have been waiting for the battle to begin and they are very nervous.
The poem portrays war as the soldiers are continually waiting for the battle to begin and the silence is very disturbing. This means that the Germans could attack at any minute and face death. If they was to go asleep they would be killed if they were attacked so they would stay awake listening for the slightest noise. They would rather fight than sit in the cold and rain:-
"Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence,
Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow."
The use of sibilance in the first words makes us imagine the sound of the bullets. It also tells us that months of wait has lead to many people dying all at once.
Wilfred Owen uses lots of personification throughout the poem to show us the atrocities these men faced. He particularly highlights the extreme conditions that the men had to face using personification:-
"Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces"
This seems like the most least harmful line in the whole poem, however, he uses personification to say how the coldness is making its way to the soldiers faces. It seems that they snow is targeting the face as the rest of our body is covered up.
The tone of the two poems are totally different from one another, even though that they both explore the horror of war. 'Exposure' generates a menacing, melancholic, sombre tone. Owen does this by using metaphors and similes to represent the soldiers:-
"Shutters and doors, all closed,
On us the doors are closed,
We turn back to our dying
Owen uses metaphor of shutters and doors to represent the soldiers innocent lives. Most of the time men who died were young and had a future ahead of them, but instead there lives are gone within an instance.
The poem is called exposure and this is significant as its tells us how the soldiers were exposed to the conditions. The poem tells us the effect of the men's exposure to different elements, the bitter wind, the rain coming down so hard it feels like knives hitting them in the back.
"Northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles,
Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war
The repetition of "but nothing happens" throughout the poem reiterates the senselessness of the whole ordeal and forces us to ask 'why on earth are these men allowed to die in such an inhumane way?'
Therefore, I conclude that both poets focus on the bitter reality of war, stressing particularly the extreme loss of life and the horrific manner in which the soldiers died for their country. Both poems are particularly powerful and use lots of techniques. We can clearly imagine the sights and sounds that the soldiers faced. Both poets address the reader directly making us ask ourselves questions about the purpose and worth of war and the lives lost. The most effective poem, in my opinion is 'Exposure' this is because it tells us how much the soldiers suffered and it doesn't give them any praise so its seems like the poet is trying to say that they knew what they were getting into. Also he tells us about the bitter weather they had been threw which seems worse than getting killed by a cannon as being in cold weather is much more painful.
