Compare the viewpoint on war in Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson And Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen

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Compare the viewpoint on war in

‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson

And ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen

                                  By Abbi Jerath

In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war. Alfred Lord Tennyson became a Poet Laureate for Queen Victoria. This meant all his audience were usually upper class, literary comrades. Tennyson had never been to war, and wrote about how he imagined war to be although many people did question his perception of the war. His poem ‘Charge or the Light Brigade’ was written about the Crimean war, October 1853 – February 1956, when six hundred men were mistakenly sent into a valley full of the opposition, only few survived. It would have been impossible for them to have been beaten they were destined for defeat. Tennyson could not criticise the country because doing so he could jeopardise his position because Poet Laureate could overlook his point, so his poem focused on the heroic and glorious side. His poem gives a sense that men are immortal; he uses metaphors to hide the reality make it all seem like it was all a good thing, when it really wasn’t.

The charge of the light brigade is divided into six stanzas that vary from six to twelve lines each. The poet also uses rhyme which alters with each stanza.
In his poem “Charge of the Light Brigade” Tennyson describes the valiant charge of the light brigade into the “jaws of death.” He makes use of repetition, allusion, and personification to paint a vivid picture of the charge, and, at the same time, he gives the reader a glimpse into the psyche of the valiant soldiers.
Tennyson’s work is a biographical piece, where from the opening lines
the reader’ senses are stimulated. In the first verse the situation is
revealed to the reader and the scene is set for the entire poem. The
Light Brigade is impatient to get into battle and can be heard through
the repetition of “Half a league”. However, their mission is to enter
”the valley of Death” This line is crucial to the poem’s meaning. The
capital D personifies death giving the impression that this battle
will not be against Cossack opposition but versus death itself.
Tennyson creates a dramatic effect here and just how dangerous the battle will be. In line six the word “Charge” is important to show urgency of this
catastrophic order. There is a lot of repetition in this verse to
create the rhythm of the galloping cavalry and rhythm of the horses’
hooves, charging to certain death yet in the minds cavalry, towards
glory, recognition and honour. The readers’ senses are called on this
verse, and the opening of the charge can both heard and imagined.
Tennyson uses alliteration to create the atmosphere of the battle in
lines thirty-five and thirty-six, “Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered. With all the S’s in these lines it presents the
sounds of the battle. I think that both poets have some sort of anger
towards authority as in Tennyson poem he says that someone had
blundered but the men carried on with the order to keep up their
amazing reputation and to known as the best army brigade in the world.
Then, although somebody had made a mistake, because of the light
brigade’s sheer determination and bravery they won mission impossible
so to speak.

‘Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them’ shows how brave Tennyson tried to show them a. Other important factors in poetry are the different sound techniques used. These include rhythm, what type of a rhyme scheme the poem has, repetition and alliteration. In my opinion the use of alliteration in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” brings colour to the poem e.g.;
“Volley’d and thunder’d storm’d at with !shot and shell!,
In his poem “Charge of the Light Brigade” Tennyson describes the valiant charge of the light brigade into the “jaws of death.” He makes use of repetition, allusion, and personification to paint a vivid picture of the charge, and, at the same time, he gives the reader a glimpse into the psyche of the valiant soldiers. Tennyson’s use of literary dev ices to paint a mental picture of a heroic charge and the insight he gives the reader into the minds of the valiant men who made it make his “Charge of the Light Brigade” a powerful poem. It is a fitting tribute to the soldiers who fought the war that elicited the world’s highest military honour: the Victoria Cross.
Light Brigade is tragic but glorious story of a miscommunication between the commander and his soldiers, which caused a group of cavalry 600 men strong to charge straight in to a host of enemy cannons. Although the much of the Calvary were torn to bits by the storm of shells, they fought on, and broke through the enemy lines. When the retreat sounded, the few men that remained came back through the jaws of Death, and returned victorious.
I think that the writer uses imaginative and figurative language very well, the rhythmic pattern of this poem is rousing. The writer uses strong metaphors to bring across the dangers of the Light Brigade, and puts emphasis on certain words using repetition as an effective impact.

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‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a war poem that was written in remembrance of the ‘noble six hundred’ men who charged into a valley of Russian cannons and doing so suffered great losses. Tennyson described them charging ‘forward’ into danger, into the ‘valley of death’, knowing that they could all die. Tennyson’s poem talks about how all of the ‘noble six hundred men’ were skilled riders and  ‘rode boldly and well’, and then in one of the stanzas there is a turning point as he says  they were shattered and sundered, then rode back, but not ...

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