Scott goes on to mention that there are “mangled limbs, and dying groans, and widows tears, and orphans moans,” all because of the commander who leads men blindly in to their death. Similarly to how the commander was described as “Ambition,” he is once again addressed as “Misery” instead to draw attention to him and to make him symbolise “Misery.” Finally Scott finishes the poem by saying that the leader kills people each battle “to fill a catalogue of woes,” as if he leads people in to their death again and again and adds them like items to “a catalogue” of the thousands of other men he’s responsible for in terms of their death. It can be said that the leader in “The Drum” is presented as a coward who puts many soldiers lives at risk without a care whilst maintaining a safe position. The commander doesn’t think about the families of the soldiers that he’s leading to their death and when they do die they’re just like items added to a “catalogue.” He looks at leaders badly because he generally dislikes the idea of warfare because he is a Quaker, so it is not a personal representation of any one leader in particular.
In the poem King Henry V, King Henry is portrayed as a very motivational leader who puts himself on the same level as his soldiers to relate to them. In the first line of the poem, King Henry says “once more unto the breach,” when he says “once more” he is making the whole situation very casual as if to say “come on lets do it again.” This would make the soldiers feel confident as if it is easy but really a battle in which they could possibly lose their lives. He addresses as “dear friends,” to get on their level to make himself equal. King Henry V also tells them “to imitate the action of the tiger,” so he is telling them that they are capable of fighting like tigers, ferocious animals. So we can see is motivating them like a good leader should.
He uses vivid imagery to motivate them as well, for example he tells them to fight like “the brass canon,” which is like releasing an immediate rage and the use of this simile motivates them. King Henry V is presented as a patriotic leader who also uses patriotism to inspire his soldiers. He says to them “On, on, you noblest English,” this would make them feel patriotic about their fatherland and fight well as he is saying that the English will charge on and on, they’re unstoppable. He also describes their father’s “like so many Alexanders,” referring to Alexander the Great. So he is comparing their fathers to Alexander the Great so that they feel as though they can’t let down their fathers. So it can be said that King Henry V is subtly manipulating them into fighting well, in a similar way he says “dishonour not your mothers.” Furthermore, he goes on to say to his soldiers “let us swear that you are worth your breeding,” this is him basically asking them “are you worth being alive?” He finishes off his motivations speech by describing the battle as a “game” which shows he is trying to make it look easy like any good leader should, he also addresses himself as “Harry” to put himself as their equal and to relate to them. King Henry V is presented as a very inspirational and motivational leader who has good qualities when it comes to relating to his men and making himself to appear as their equal in order to get an optimum battle from them to a certain extent he does this in a manipulative way.
In “the Burial of Sir John Moore After Corunna,” the soldiers are so devoted to the leader that they took the time to carry his corpse and bury it with care. When they buried him “Not a drum was heard,” implying that the war was almost still to them because their leader is dead and it created an emotional atmosphere conveying how much they valued him. The word “hero,” is used to describe Sir John Moore, which suggests he was a role model for his troops and that he set a very good example with his brave and heroic actions. Furthermore, they buried “him darkly at dead of night,” this conveys that they took the time and effort to do this when they could be resting. Also, there is a calming rhythm in the phrase “darkly dead of night,” with the use of alliteration which mirrors that of the atmosphere when they buried, whilst burying the “hero.” It is said that he “lay like a warrior taking his rest,” which suggest that he is being buried as he lived, a noble warrior.
He is buried “with his martial cloak around him,” so the reader get a feeling of him being buried with pride and dignity because he has achieved a lot in his lifetime. Wolfe goes on to say that they “spoke not a word of sorrow,” but they “bitterly thought of the morrow.” This is suggesting that they stood tall, buried their leader and celebrated his achievements rather than mourning. However, they dislike the idea of the next day when the leader won’t be there because they’re not sure what they’re going to do without him which emphasises what a good leader he was to the extent that his soldiers depended on him, the use of rhyme emphasises this point. The part of the ground where Sir John Moore’s head rests is described a s a “pillow,” the effect of this metaphor gives a comfortable feel because a pillow is comfortable and is used to rest peacefully. The soldiers talk “of the spirit that’s gone,” implying that he’ll be missed and that his presence was significant.
Wolfe also says that a “Briton has laid” Sir John Moore in his grave conveying that he is being buried in a patriotic way implying he deserves this because of his services to Great Britain. The final line in the poem reads, “We left him alone with his glory,” showing that he died as a hero which shows how good of a leader he was. Sir John Moore was clearly a very good leader who guided his soldiers in to battle in a very brave and honourable way so much that his soldiers are genuinely burying him with dignity and pride because they feel he deserves to be left “alone with his glory.”
In “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” the poet is trying to communicate the fact that in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War the commanding officer of the “six hundred” was a terrible leader and lead his men straight in to the “jaws of Death.” The whole poem is a negative commentary on the role of the leader in the battle. It is said that the all the men were in the “valley of Death,” implying that the leader has brought them to their death showing that the commanding officer is a poor leader. Furthermore, the use of rhyme also helps to create a rhythm. The rhythm in this poem mimics that of galloping horses on a mundane battlefield creating a depressing atmosphere adding to how bad of a situation the leader has put his soldiers in. It is also said that “Not though the soldier knew someone had blundered.” This implies that the leader has made a mistake whilst the men are unknowing. The blunder itself is presented seriously because of the serious tone used.
Most importantly in the poem, the poet says “Their’s not to make reply, their’s not to reason why, their’s but to do and die.” This is quite powerful and it shows that soldiers are not to “reply” to orders from commanders they should just do what they are told even if it means they are being sent in to death. They are not supposed to “reason” they should just follow orders even if they are irrational and they’re supposed to just follow orders and “die.” This suggests how bad this particular leader was as he is being made out like a heartless who sends men to their deaths without a care. It is said that they rode “into the mouth of hell,” because that’s where the leader has sent them. It is also said twice in the whole poem that there was “cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them.” This is to emphasise the severity of the situation the leader has put them in because they are surrounded by weaponry and yet they were still “charging an army.” This brings the reader to realise that these men are very brave but it’s the leader that is the coward.
The phrase “rode the six hundred” is repeated in the poem the create a sense of bravery from the soldiers and that they are “noble,” but the leader is the coward for doing all this and sacrificing good men.” However in the fourth stanza it says “not the six hundred,” this is a negative change of tone and it’s shocking to the reader because it feels as if they’re getting killed showing how poor the leader is for this to happen to them. The authors admiration for the brave soldiers is conveyed because he says “horse and hero fell,” the word “hero” shows brave and noble characteristics and the use of alliteration also helps to emphasise this point. Tennyson, finishes the poem by saying “Noble six hundred!” showing that it’s the leader that is to blame for their death and that the soldiers are being brave, genuinely fighting for their country. So it can be said that the commanding officer in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is presented very poorly as he lead his soldiers “into the mouth of Hell,” whilst the soldiers are expected to “do and die.”
In conclusion it can be said that the leader in “The Drum” is portrayed poorly because the author dislikes the whole idea of war because he is a Quaker and Quakers are against violence all together. In this respect, the way the leader is presented in “The Drum” is more similar to how the leader is presented in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” than any of the other two poems. This is because they both look at the leaders negatively and show how commanding officers instigate the death of innocent men, luring them “from cities and from fields,” and how they lead men “into the jaws of death.” The leader in the Charge of the Light Brigade is presented worse because it is an individual attack on a leader for a particular battle and the whole poem is a commentary on the blunder the leader made. In “The Drum,” John Scott is generally communicating views against the whole idea of war, which includes the commanding officers, however he does say that commanding officers allow men “to fight and fall in foreign lands,” condemning the commanding officers as being cowards. The other two poems are very similar in their attitudes towards the leaders. In “The Burial of Sir John Moore After Corunna,” the leader who died was clearly a very good leader because the soldiers are giving him a dignified burial, leaving “him alone with his glory.” Henry V, in the poem taken from “Henry V,” is shown as a very motivational leader who fights along side his fellow soldiers, addressing them as “friends.” He is presented as such a good leader that if he were to die his soldiers would probably give him a similar burial to the one Sir John Moore received. However, Henry V does manipulate his men making them question their “breeding,” and so on. This means that the leader best presented is Sir John Moore. So it can be seen how the leaders have been presented in each of the four poems in very different ways. However, as Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, once said “You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.” Humour aside, in a similar fashion you don’t lead you men blindly in to battle in to “the Jaws of death.” And this is essentially the difference between the bad leaders and the good leaders, some care and others don’t and some take pride in leading their men confidently in to battle and others don’t.
