However, this is not the case. We are greeted in the opening with descriptions of soldiers who are “bent double, like old beggars under sacks” and “knock-kneed, coughing like hags”. It is this contrast between the positive title of the poem and the negative imagery of weak, battered animals that the men have become in the opening lines that creates the feeling of shock for the reader.
This contrast is further developed through the way Tennyson describes the soldiers in his poem. In 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', the soldiers are depicted as “noble”, majestic and honourable gentlemen, elevating them to a heroic status. The soldiers in this poem are everything that the title 'Dulce et Decorum Est' suggests soldiers should be. They are the “noble six hundred”, who “Flash’d their sabres bare” and “Flash’d as they turn’d in air, Sabring the gunners there”. This not only illustrates the bravery of the soldiers, facing the battery of guns with only their swords for defence, but it also supports the idea that being a soldier was a very glorious occupation and that the soldiers had such professional finesse by the description of the specialist equipment they used: the sabre swords.
The exciting, fast pace of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is maintained by the repetition of words, especially in the first four stanzas. For example, “Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them”. This helps to capture the hectic atmosphere of the battle because with each mention of the word “cannon” the reader can imagine the explosion of a cannon in the battle. This also continues to suggest the soldiers’ bravery as they continue to charge forward on horseback, even though it seems they are surrounded by cannons waiting to take their lives almost everywhere they look.
Alternatively, in ‘'Dulce et Decorum Est' et Decorum Est’, the atmosphere is dreary and sombre and Owen uses slightly different linguistic devices to capture this. He uses words which force the reader to slightly extend their sounds, such as “cursed through sludge”. The prolonged, almost onomatopoeic ‘s’ sounds help the reader imagine the weary, arduous movements of the soldiers in the appalling, filthy conditions of the trenches. This also demonstrates how the soldiers’ have been stripped of all the dignity and pride they possess, as more imagery of animals is used to describe them, especially the imagery of cattle and horses:
“…But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;…”
The seemingly excellent physical condition of the soldiers in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' puts into perspective the torment and agony endured by the soldiers in 'Dulce et Decorum Est'. Any trace of energy they may once have had has gone and they have now become “Drunk with fatigue deaf even to the hoots”. The word “drunk” is used to describe the physically and emotionally drained appearance of the soldiers and also their movements. The language used to describe the physical condition and extreme fatigue of the soldiers as they “trudged” and “marched asleep”, would be very out-of-place in the quick pace of the Battle of Balaclava in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.
In both poems, the writers try to make their intentions very clear through the openings ('Dulce et Decorum Est' in its first stanza and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in its first three stanzas) and the justification of these intentions follows immediately. In other words, the openings of the poems set the scene, before the real purpose is exposed. In 'Dulce et Decorum Est', this occurs in the second stanza and the brief two lines that follow it, where the gas attack takes place.
Owen immediately introduces more surprise by the sudden introduction of speech, alerting the reader to the situation and directly involving them in it. We can tell there is a sense of urgency as one of the soldiers (possibly Owen) begins shouting “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!”. The urgency of this situation is revealed through these short, one word sentences, which quicken the originally unhurried pace of the preceding stanza. And then the poem starts to be come as hectic as in the opening 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', although the soldiers in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' become frantic in their attempts to escape death, whereas the soldiers in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' are marching towards possible death.
As the gas begins to diffuse into the trenches, Owen uses many metaphors and similes to try and capture the havoc in the trenches and the complete desperation of the soldiers fearing for their lives. A lot of water imagery is also used in this section of the poem as yet another major shock awaits the readers, as we are about to witness what Owen painfully witnesses himself: a soldier about to be sent to his death by the gas. Amidst all the chaotic activity in the trench, one soldier is “still yelling out and stumbling” and Owen can see him “floundering” as he peers through his “misty panes” and through the green gas; his colleague is “drowning” as though “under a green sea”. The words “floundering”, “misty” and “drowning” can all be connected negatively to images of water. “Floundering” suggests that the soldier is struggling, just as a fish flounders and “drowning” suggests a slow, uncontrollable kind of torture by water and is used to describe the gas entering the soldiers lungs and dissolving them. The idea of dissolution is also linked with water.
Yet more shock and emotional torment is administered, both to Owen and the reader, through the next two isolated lines:
“In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”
For the first time we can think Owen’s thoughts, feel Owen’s emotions and helplessness and are emphatically involved in the situation. The mere isolation of these lines forces the reader to ignore all other thoughts and witness death through the eyes of Owen. The vocabulary in these two lines is very powerful. Firstly, we can see Owen’s vulnerability and powerlessness when he says “In all my dreams before my helpless sight”. Just as in dreams, he has no control over what he is seeing and can only watch his comrade dying. Even more powerful are the words used to describe the soldier’s agonising journey towards death. There is yet another connection to images of water through the word “plunging”. Its slightly elongated sound helps to illustrate the slow death that the soldier is dying, as do the words “guttering”, “choking” and “drowning”, which all suggests slow, painful and drawn-out methods of death. It would seem from the vivid, graphic and disturbing images that Owen has almost achieved his intention of shocking the reader, but it is not the last of Owen’s perturbing revelations.
In 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', death does not seem as significant to Tennyson or the soldiers in the poem, as it appears to to Owen and the soldiers in 'Dulce et Decorum Est'. However, this is to be expected as Tennyson’s intention is to educe the glory of war, and to pay tribute to the glorious role of the soldier in the war. The focal point of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' is the battle and retreat in the fourth and fifth stanzas.
In these stanzas, Tennyson’s attempts to show the valour of the soldiers are as evident as they are throughout the poem. Nearly all the vocabulary used is positive. Tennyson even uses a word which Owen uses negatively in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and uses it to effectively decried the soldier’s determined penetration of the enemy territory: the word “plunged”. This word is much more forceful and shows control, whereas in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' it adds to a feeling of helplessness.
The bravery of the soldiers seems unquestionable in this section of the poem. We see the soldiers “flash their sabres bare” and we see the successful results of this as their adversaries, “Cossack and Russian reel’d from the sabre-stroke”. More repetition: “Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them” not only enhances the quick pace and active atmosphere of the poem, but also continues the promotion of the soldiers’ heroic duty. Like Owen, Tennyson is devoted to ensure that the reader is convinced of his perception of war, in he does that by adding the concept of death to the poem, yet still manages to elevate the soldiers above everything else, including death. He does this through linguistic devices such as alliteration when he describes the enemy artillery shooting at the soldiers who “storm’d through shot and shell”. The forced emphasis on the words “storm’d”, “shot” and “shell”, adds extra impact to the cannons being fired at the soldiers as the reader imagines it. It reminds us yet again of the immense bravery of the soldiers, risking something as valuable as their lives as “horse and hero fell”. The use of personification to describe death’s “jaws” and hell’s “mouth” transforms death into a living object, and therefore makes it seem more defeatable.
'Dulce et Decorum Est' and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' develop differently towards their conclusions. In terms of the negativity of 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and the positivity of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' the tone, atmosphere, and imagery is consistent throughout. However, the rhythm and pace of both poems vary as the poems progress. In 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', the rhyming pattern breaks down as the poem moves through ‘stages’. This is possibly a reference to the organisation of the troops as a result of the depleting numbers of men as the battle progresses. In 'Dulce et Decorum Est', the pace of the poem is initially very lethargic, to illustrate the weakness and poor physical condition of the demoralised soldiers. The pace is then quickened to capture the urgency and chaos of the gas attack, and finally, the pace is slowed down again towards the end as Owen reflects on the horror of war.
Both poets summarise their thoughts in the final stanzas of the poems. However, they do so in a slightly different manner to each other. In the conclusion of 'Dulce et Decorum Est', Owen becomes confrontational in a purposeful attempt to initiate thoughts feelings of guilt in the reader, frequently using the word “you” to speak directly. He also frequently uses the word “if” in this final stanza: “If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in…” and “If you could hear at every jolt”. Owen is suggesting that we can never really begin to know the horrors of the reality of war and the mental shock he now experiences as a result of watching a companion dying before his eyes while he stood unable to save him; we can only imagine. This is also an appeal to the senses which puts things into perspective and makes everything seem more real because “watching the white eyes writhing” and “hearing at every jolt the blood come gargling from his froth-corrupted lungs” are examples of real experiences: Owen’s experiences. He uses yet more powerfully shocking and disturbing imagery to help us imagine, such as “blood gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs”, “the white eyes writhing on his face” and the “vile incurable sores on innocent tongues”. The words “corrupted” and “incurable” are particularly significant, as they symbolise a permanent ‘scar’ that cannot be removed, which is what Owen’s memories of the war effectively are.
Owen’s final three lines are perhaps three of the most influential on the reader’s thoughts in the entire poem:
“My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et Decorum Est
Pro patria mori.”
Firstly, Owen addresses the reader for the final time, this time not as “you”, but as “my friend”. This is another strong attempt to rouse feelings of guilt in the reader. As “friends” and fellow countrymen we are supposed to unite and to look out for each other’s best interests and the interests of our country. Owen almost asks the question “What is friendship, when something like this happens”. Owen’s understandably bitter feelings about the lies and propaganda are not only directed at the government, but also to those who, at the time, who wrote and spoke of war in the way which Tennyson does in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.
And the greatest and final shock of 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is when we learn that “The old lie”, “Dulce et Decorum Est pro patria mori” is not being told to “old beggars” and “hags”, but “to children ardent for some desperate glory”. In other words, the soldiers whose lives are being wasted and sacrificed in the name of patriotism are not old men, but young men who would have been the future of our country but for the government taking advantage of their enthusiasm.
The last few lines of Tennyson’s 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' pay tribute to the brave efforts of the soldiers:
“Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred”
It is clear to see that, particularly from use of positive words such as “honour” and “noble” Tennyson looks upon the charge as noble and brave and is trying to convince the public that he is justified in having such a romantic and glorious outlook on war by saying what they want to hear. Tennyson does not so much present a false image of war as a different perspective. Both poets were in different positions during the wars about which they write: Owen was directly involved, whereas Tennyson was a member of the public and could only write about what he heard and not what he experienced.
I feel that both Owen and Tennyson achieve have both achieved their intention; Owen’s 'Dulce et Decorum Est' shocks and disturbs readers, making them think about certain important moral issues, and Tennyson’s 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' depicts a romantic view of the role of a soldier in a war. These were the aims of the respective poems. However, I personally feel that 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is more successful in achieving its aim because it has more graphic imagery, it incorporates the reader’s feelings more frequently and effectively and it is more confrontational and directed more at the reader through such references as “you” and “my friend”. I think that 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' has a more imaginative portrayal of war and this lack of realism is what gives it slightly less effect and impact on the reader. However, the passion and excitement in the poem offers some consolation for this.
