Judging from these two poems, would you prefer to have been a soldier serving in The Light Brigade during the illustrious charge during the Crimean War, or a soldier in the trenches during the First World War. Show how the information, details and style o

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Laura Baker

Judging from these two poems, would you prefer to have been a soldier serving in The Light Brigade during the illustrious charge during the Crimean War, or a soldier in the trenches during the First World War. Show how the information, details and style of each poem have influenced your choice.

Wilfred Owen wrote 'Dulce et Decorum Est' from personal experience whereas Alfred Lord Tennysons' poem, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' was based on a newspaper report that he had read, it celebrates the courage of the soldiers and their bravery despite the danger that they faced. Owens' poem is a very much anti-war, protest poem about the unglamour of war and his dislike of propaganda being used to suade the public. Owen presents the horror of senseless death in the trenches. Owens' poem may have been written to challenge Tennysons' rousing and jingoistic sentiments and other patriotic poems written at that time. Tennyson was a civilian poet as opposed to a soldier poet like Owen, he had not been an eyewitness to the battle that he describes. There is a distinct contrast between the two poems.

In the opening verse you get a very different image of the soldiers than what you would expect from the title. 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is the Latin phrase for 'It is sweet and fitting to die for your country', it is an ironic title because the poem paints an ugly picture of the shere brutality and desperation of war, this is implied by the use of a halting rhythm which echoes the beat of the soldiers' feet marching. This makes the poem much more authentic. The description of the young men is particularly striking,
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'Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags,' it stresses the pain and desolation. Its makes the young men seem unnaturally old. The men should be energetic and in good physical shape. These men are so tired that they are like old women and beggars floundering through the mud. They are the opposite of Tennyson's 'Noble six hundred'.

The first verse is very slow and inactive and such words like 'trudge' capture the atmosphere. Owen writes in first person plural, this reminds us that Owen witnessed the war, it makes the poem seem ...

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