Many war poets wrote about the bravery of the soldiers involved, particularly when out numbered as in these poems or out done in the strength of their armoury, but were critical of the necessity of the battle itself or of the war which they often passionately felt was futile. And in these two poems we can see that the poets felt just like this.
Both poems use repetition to allow the audience to remember what is being said in the poems. For example, in the Charge of the Light Brigade, the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, repeats the sentence, ‘Rode the six hundred’ at the end of every stanza, to make sure that the reader remembers the fact that the British troops then were hugely outnumbered against the Russians, who had much more equipment, such as cannons and guns, which were aimed right at the British troops from all sides of the valley:
‘Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them.’
Both poets communicate vividly the feelings of the soldiers involved in these poems and the state of the battles. For example, in Charge of the light Brigade Alfred Lord Tennyson says, ‘Rode the six hundred’, ‘into the mouth of Hell’, ‘into the jaws of Death’, conveying constant movement of the British Troops against all the odds, into a battle from which they would almost certainly die. Alfred Lord Tennyson is constantly talking about the fact that the British troops were extremely outnumbered against the Russian army, and that the Russians had cannons and rifles and all the British army had was a brigade of cavalry with swords; this was bad as they had to get in close to the Russians to actually start killing them. But despite this, they carried on:
“When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!”
Alfred Lord Tennyson uses a lot of imagery to communicate honour and duty I think; because when he says, ‘Shattered and sundered’ this could mean a few things, one it could mean that ‘Shattered’ could have been the bones of the British. They were out numbered and getting beaten by the Russians. As the British cavalry charged the Russians, ‘Sundered’ is used because it means ‘being broken apart’. The Russians simply broke the ranks of the British apart. Alfred Lord Tennyson uses this imagery to communicate honour and duty, by saying that even though the British troops were outnumbered heavily, they still had a job to do and they did it; they charged at a Russian army which was better equipped then they were, and which was in a better position strategically; the Russians had control of the valley and had places cannons and riflemen on the surrounding hills to shoot down at the charging British troops.
Tennyson uses the term ‘valley of death’, instead of simply saying they rode into the valley on their horses. This emphasises the fact that they rode into battle with honour and to fulfil their duty, virtually committing suicide and causing the reader to feel a pity but at the same time proud about these men who rode bravely into face death.
The men in Tennyson’s poem did not question their orders rather they obeyed them without question and rode to their deaths for their King and country. Tennyson emphasises again, these men were brave, honourable men who fought and died to keep their fellow countrymen living free from the control of their enemy and to bring the glory of victory home. He says that they deserve respect and honour from the men and women they died to protect and serve.
The imagery plays an important part in the communication of ideas of duty and honour in both Charge of the Light Brigade and Vitaï Lampada.
The poet of Vitaï Lampada, Henry Newbolt, communicates ideas of duty and honour, by saying that in all three of the stanzas in the poem; stanza one is about a cricket match and that one man can change the outcome of everything.
“Ten to make and the match to win – A bumping pitch and a blinding light”
Stanza two is about war or a battle in a war, and that they are being killed all of their weapons are jammed, their Colonel is dead, and they have lost.
“The sand of the desert is sodden red, - Red with the wreck of a square that broke; - The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead,”
Stanza three is about a remembrance service, and ties both the first and the second stanzas together, the words of a schoolboy are the focus in this stanza and poem, because the he talks about that dying for your country is a great thing and which should be honoured.
“And falling fling to the host behind – 'Play up! Play up! And play the game!'”