The change in the portrayal of war before and during the twentieth century, and also the structures and devices poets use to convey their views persuasively

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The attitudes of poets towards war have always been expressed vigorously in their poetry, each poet either condoning or condemning war, and justifying their attitudes in whatever way possible. I aim to explore the change in the portrayal of war before and during the twentieth century, and also the structures and devices poets use to convey their views persuasively, and justify them. These two poems describe war, and scenes from war, with varying levels of intensity and reality and also from different viewpoints. Tennyson?s ?Charge of the Light Brigade? was written during the Crimean war. It is about a military blunder, where six hundred men were sent to charge straight into gunfire. Lord Tennyson was the poet Laureate at the time of the Crimean war, but did not witness any fighting.

Lord Tennyson, however, shows a totally different approach to war. Being the poet Laureate, it could be argued that Tennyson was trying to underplay the completely unnecessary death of so many men. In this way, his poem becomes political, as he is defending the ?establishment? (where men were told, when they joined the army and sent to die, that they would die heroically, not as fools, despite being sent to the front line by generals far from the danger) . On top of this, Tennyson was not in the war, he was in Britain during the campaign, therefore he relied solely on accounts from soldiers, most likely high ranking officers, and his imagination to write the poem. This is reflected in his view of war. He does not consider the dreadful realities of war, only the honour and bravery. The two writers use many methods to convey their opinions, and also to show or to hide the realities and myths surrounding war. Firstly, the two writers try to make their poems sound as realistic as possible (whether this be the case or not) and as convincing as possible. Both writers use direct speech in their works. In Tennyson?s poem, Forward the Light Brigade!? is used, and in ?Dulce et Decorum est?, we hear ?Gas! Gas! Quick, boys?. This Tennyson does not use senses, but he tries to make his poem realistic by showing elements of discipline. Tennyson writes: ?Their?s not to make reply, Their?s not to reason why, Their?s but to do and die...?. This discipline brings the poem to a sensible, down-to -earth level, making it more feasible and convincing. However, at the same time, it implies that the soldiers are very heroic, as they are prepared to die. Both poems contain various images to make them more vivid. The moods of these images, which really determine the moods of the poems as a whole, are very different to each poem. direct speech not only makes the poems more exciting, as the two lines express action, but it also adds a touch of realism and immediacy.

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. These same features indicated by ?the jaws of Death? and ?the mouth of Hell?. What makes this heroic and gallant is that the soldiers rode boldly into ?the valley of Death?, and many of them also came out unscathed. It is as if they were cheating or outrunning ?Death?. A heroic scene is also created when the general says: ?Forward the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!?. This conjures images of heroes on horseback, charging fearlessly towards the guns, when they know they may be killed. These elements of fearlessness and and danger add thrill and romance to ...

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