The language of both poems has a strong effect on the reader. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is full of energy, action and excitement. Tennyson wrote the poem for members of the public so the poem is very simple, clear and easy to understand. The opening lines of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ use rhythm to create excitement. ‘Half a league, half a league, half a league onward’ out the sounds of horses into readers head making them feel almost like they are part of the charge and at the scene of the battle. Tennyson employs imagery throughout the poem. He describes the battle scene as ‘the valley of death’. This gives the reader a picture of a land plagued with death. This line is repeated several times during the poem. He also describes the battle scene as ‘the jaws of death’ and ‘the mouth of hell’ which give a very similar effect as ‘the valley of the death’. All the quotes speak of death and are designed to scare the reader. The first three stanzas of the poem end with the line ‘rode the six hundred’ constantly reminding the reader of the number of soldiers that were in the charge.
The last lines of the forth stanza, ‘then they rode back, but not, not the six hundred’ implies soldiers have died without specifically mentioning that soldiers have died. Tennyson does this to keep the poem as clean as possible. The first real mention of death to the British is the line ‘while horse and hero fell’. The line uses alliteration and was very powerful, as the British loved horses. Throughout the poem the soldiers do not die, they simply fall. Similarly Tennyson says the horses fell buy never actually mentions their death. There are three lines used in the poem that are some of the most well known in British language. They have also been quoted in the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. ‘There’s not to make reply, there’s not to reason why, there’s but to do and die’. These lines mean you cannot question your orders; you must simply act upon them even if it will result in your death, which was the case for nearly half of the Light Brigade.
The third stanza starts with the lines ‘cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them’. In these lines, Tennyson employs repetition when delivering the dramatic information about the soldiers being surrounded by cannons. The line that follows uses the word thundered which puts a sound into the reader’s head exciting them. The forth stanza opens with visual imagery. ‘Flash’d all there sabres bare’ gives the reader an image of the soldiers blades. Tennyson writes about sabres later on in the poem in the line ‘Cossack and Russian reel’d from the sabre-stroke’ implying the enemy had been badly cut up. When Tennyson describes the Light Brigade charging the cannons he describes them as plunging, a word often associated with being fast and sudden. Tennyson ends the forth stanza with the lines ‘Then they rode back, but not, not the six hundred’. The lines use repetition and the lines slow down the pace of the poem talking about how not all the soldiers returned from the charge.
The fifth stanza ends similarly with the lines ‘all that was left of them, left of six hundred’ which delivers exactly the same effect as the last lines of the forth stanza. The pace of the last stanza slows down and Tennyson ends the story of the charge of the light brigade. The first line of the stanza describes the soldiers as having ‘glory’. Tennyson writes this to honour the soldiers. The second line describes the charge as ‘wild’ a word often used to describe things that are out of control. This suggests the soldiers were very brave to charge and makes them appear heroic. The forth line of the final stanza ‘honour the charge they made!’ commands the reader to honour the charge they made. The line that follows ‘Honour the Light Brigade’ commands the reader again to honour the Light Brigade. The poem ends with the line ‘Noble six hundred’ honouring the Light Brigade.
The language of ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ depresses the reader showing a much darker side of war. The poem opens by describing the soldiers going off to war. Owen describes them as ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’. This slimily makes the soldiers seem like they are struggling. The second line ‘Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’ is a great example of how Owen describes the appalling conditions of war. The fact the soldiers are cursing shows they are unhappy, upset and annoyed with the sludge. Owen gives the reader an image of men wading and struggling through the sludge. Owen then moves on to talk about ‘haunting flares’ lighting up the soldiers, revealing them to the enemy, almost lining them up to be shot. Owen carries on through out the first stanza describing the monotonous journey to front line describing the soldiers as ‘trudging’ going back to the image of soldiers wading through, almost stuck in the mud. ‘Men marched asleep’ gives the impression the soldiers are marching almost dead similar to the line ‘drunk with fatigue’ describing the soldiers as drunk, not them selves, almost in a different world the opposite of the exciting charge Tennyson writes about. Owen describes the soldiers as ‘blood-shot, all went lame’. The word lame is often used to describe animals which suggests they are animals which also suggests they may be being treated like animals, forced to carry objects miles over sludge, similar to a horse or donkey.
The second stanza starts with the line ‘Gas! Gas! Quick boys, an ecstasy of fumbling’ describing panic, fear and starts the story of the gas attack writes about. Using the word ecstasy is a very powerful word as it is often used to describe something happy and exciting but in the poem it is used to describe something sad and tragic. The drug ecstasy speeds everything up which strengthens the word fumbling giving a clear image of the soldier in a state of panic and horror. This image is carried on again in line two when Owen describes the soldiers as ‘clumsily fitting their helmets’. In the story of the gas attack Owen writes about in the last two stanzas, one of the soldiers didn’t fit his helmet in time and he suffered a horrible death because of it. Line four speaks of him ‘floundering like a man in fire or lime’ describing him as burning, as if the smoke is fire and he couldn’t escape. He then goes on to write about the gas. ‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning’. Comparing the gas to the sea allows the reader to create a clear image of the soldier dieing in the gas. The next line, ‘In all my dreams, before my helpless sight’ shows how helpless Owen was and how he couldn’t help the innocent dieing man. The second stanza ends with the words ‘guttering, chocking, drowning’. This shows he is dieing in the most horrible way possible, falling before his companions in thick green gas.
In the third stanza of ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ Owen slows down the pace and speaks to the reader using the word ‘you’ to address the reader. Owen goes on to describe the dead soldier as having ‘white eyes writhing in his face’. White eyes give an image of death to the reader. He also describes his face as ‘a devil’s sick of sin’, which makes the reader think of death and evil. In the next line Owen speaks to the reader again while still describing the dead soldier. ‘The blood come gargling from his froth-corrupted lungs’ is used to shock the reader. ‘Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud’ uses very strong words. Cancer is a very common illness and by using it to describe death in war makes dieing at war seem common and something very real that effects lots of people. The line that follows ‘incurable sores on innocent tongues’ shows the men are young and innocent making the reader show sympathy for the soldiers. Owen also describes the soldiers as ‘children’. The line that follows speaks directly to the reader for the third time addressing them as ‘my friend’, which suggests signs of sarcasm. The poem ends which the line ‘the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patriamori’ which is Latin for how sweet it is to die for your country. Owen wrote the last line in Latin to target the Catholic Church who were encouraging men to go to war. The Catholic Church often wrote in Latin so Owen wrote what he calls ‘the old lie’ in Latin to contour what the Catholic Church had said.
Both poems describe the experience of war in very different ways. The reason for this is that different people wrote them for different reasons and audiences.
Josh Lees – 10M1
