Tennyson believes that they shouldn’t question orders and they should do what ever they have been commanded to do even if it results in their deaths.
The main action takes place in verses three, four and five. The words and phrases which shows the action are
“Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them”
This shows that they are marching straight towards cannons with swords. The words “Volleyed” and “thundered” show they were being attacked. It also suggests there were huge explosions. The phrase “stormed at with shot and shell” This quote suggests the immense fire power of the Russian and Cossack army. It also shows that they were constantly being bombarded by the enemy’s guns. We are told that the soldiers
“Flash’d all their sabres bare,
flash’d as they turn’d in air
sabring the gunners there,”
as they were “Plunged into the battery-smoke” which was from the guns which the Russians had seized. This shows that they reached the enemy and started to fight them using their swords. These words show the danger soldiers faced while fighting the Russians.
In verses three and five the word “cannon” is repeated three times in both verses. Here the method creates a sense of unrelenting assault; at each line our eyes meet the word “Cannon”, just as the soldiers meet their flying shells at each turn as they were constantly being attacked by the enemy. This is called anaphora, in which the same word is repeated at the beginning of several consecutive lines.
In verse five every soldier is described as a “hero”. This could be because they followed everything which they were told to do without hesitation or questioning. Even when the soldiers realised that they were out numbered, they still never retreated but they carried on fighting. They are heroes according to Tennyson because they sacrificed their lives for their country which is what a real soldier should be doing.
In stanza six the poet begins with a question “When can their glory fade?” This is a rhetorical question which doesn’t require an answer. It provokes us to think about their glory and what they did for their country. He believes that their glory will never fade and wants to make us think along the same lines. The poet tells us to “Honour the charge they made!” because he wants us to remember them and not to forget their bravery and sacrifice they made for their country. From the way Tennyson tells us to honour and praise the soldiers it seems that he supports war. The “noble” men are praised for what they did. They died for their country and he is in support of what they did so this shows he supports war. However the poet wasn’t there to see the battle unfold. He never saw any of them dieing. He doesn’t comment on any horrific or gruesome imagery so it seems he wasn’t there to see the battle. So his account of the war is more idealistic and unreliable. The poet’s view of war is very patriotic, perhaps even naive. He believes that men should die for their country. He is full of praise for them like he says, “Honour the light brigade/ noble six hundred.” He tells us to honour and remember them which shows he was proud and in support of what they did for their country.
Tennyson uses repetition of the last line of each stanza to help narrate his progression of events. Stanza one to three ends with “Rode the six hundred.” The forth stanza ends with “Not the six hundred.” The fifth stanza ends with “left of the six hundred” and the final stanza ends with “Noble six hundred.” Tennyson’s use of repetition and variation is so effective that the outline of the war can be ascertained by reading only the last line of each stanza. He also uses alliteration to heighten the climax of action in stanza four and five, for example “Reeled from the sabre- stroke / shattered and sundered.” And “Stormed at with shot and shell/ while horse and hero fell.” The usage of alliteration intensifies the action while the insistent-sounding meter gives the poem a military sounding tone.
The division of the stanza appear balanced at a glance however Tennyson structures the poem asymmetrically like a lopsided sea-saw. Using this analogy, stanza four serves as a balance point, separating stanzas three and five which use parallelism to give a “before-and-after” effect, just in the same way as the battle. Stanza five begins in the same way as stanza three, “Cannon to right of them/Cannon to left of them.” However Tennyson changes “Cannon in front of them” to “Cannon behind them” because in stanza five the brigade is retreating. Similarly, “into the jaws of death/ into the mouth of hell” becomes “Came through the jaws of death/back from the mouth of hell”. Appropriately only two stanzas follow stanza four, or turning point, whereas three stanzas precede it. Therefore the former part of the poem is “heavier” than the later part of the poem, just as there are more men in the brigade before the charge than there are after it. The last stanza is the shortest in the poem, and the abruptness with which it ends could resemble the abruptness of the men’s lives.
The writer makes use of certain words or phrases to describe to the reader the danger the soldiers face in the battle. For example “Into the jaws of death/into the mouth of hell.” This shows that the soldiers are taking on death. Tennyson has personified death to show the danger and the bravery of the soldiers. Due to the fact that the word “death” is mentioned, readers are met with vivid, vile and graphic imagery of death, destruction and anarchy. Tennyson also writes “Came through the jaws of death/back from the mouth of hell.” Which again personifies death, It has been taken on by these men and they denied death. Tennyson writes that the soldiers marched “Into the valley of death.” This could be a premonition of the soldier’s death where death is casting its deadly shadow upon these men, which may suggest that countless lives may be lost. Tennyson has used this phrase twice in stanzas one and two, this could be because he wants to emphasise the danger which the soldiers face.
The rhyme scheme varies with each stanza. He often uses the same rhyme or even the same final word for several consecutive lines for example, “Flash’d all their sabres bare/ flash’d as they turned in air/sabring the gunners there.” The poet’s use of rhyme is interesting as it seems to make the rhythm of the poem faster, perhaps matching the fast pace of the battle.
This poem is comprised of six numbered stanzas varying in length of six to twelve lines. Each line is in dimeter, which means it has two stressed syllables; more over each stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables, for example,
Can----non-----to / right----of----them S=Stressed
S N S N S S N S NS NS=Non stressed
This makes the rhythm dactylic. The use of “falling” rhythm, in which the stress is on the first beat of each metric unit, and then “falls off” for the rest of the length of the meter, is appropriate in a poem about the devastating fall of the British brigade.
Tennyson uses false rhyme between “Blundered” “thundered” “Sundered” “Wondered” and “hundred”. The effect of this is that just as the rhyme scheme seems a bit confused so was the order which was made for the men the charge at the enemy. However Tennyson doesn’t criticize the person who was responsible for the order. All he refers to the person is “He” and “someone”. The poem has no sarcasm or enmity against the one who made the order and throughout the poem the men are praised for their bravery.
Tennyson has made each line short and has used very little of punctuation which speeds up the pace of the poem. Just as the poem is fast paced so was “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. Also the Quickness of the poem could resemble the quickness of the soldiers’ deaths.
Dulce et Decorum est Talks about war in a critical way and uses gruesome pictures to get its picture across. “In The Charge of the Light Brigade”, Tennyson uses persuasion to make us think of the soldiers as brave e.g. “Honour the charge they made!” Dulce et Decorum est is about the condition of the soldiers who are returning from a battle to rest but on the other hand in The Charge of the Light Brigade it begins with the soldiers advancing to the battle field. Owen starts his poem by describing the soldiers. Owen says “bent double, like old beggars under sacks,” This war has reduced these men to beggars. These soldiers have lost their dignity, they have no self-respect and are suffering terribly, “Knocked-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” The soldiers are complaining about the war and the difficult terrain. On the other hand the soldiers in The Charge of the Light Brigade are proud and honoured to be fighting for their country. The soldiers in Dulce et Decorum est are scared “till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,” The soldiers can still hear the bombs dropping behind them and this is terrifying them. Even though they are returning the sound of the bombs is making them petrified because they aren’t fully alert. We can tell that the poet was there to witness these events as he say “We turned out backs”. “haunting flares” could suggest the beginning of another attack. The effect of this is that it makes the reader think of the constant fear of death the soldiers were experiencing. On the other hand in The Charge of the Light Brigde the soldiers were riding boldly “into the valley of death” knowing that they were going to die but this didn’t put them off. They weren’t fearful at all. The soldiers in Dulce et Decorum est are very tired, they aren’t able to walk to the resting place properly “And towards our distant resting place began to trudge” It is very difficult for these soldiers to walk. “Men marched asleep” Shows that these men were not aware of what was happening around them as they were very tired and they no longer have the discipline they are supposed to have. They have lost their strength, vigour, and valour. Their senses aren’t working properly. “Many had lost their boots” suggests that the soldiers were walking bare foot. This could also mean that the men had lost their dignity. The soldiers were “Drunk with fatigue” which also shows that they were consumed with tiredness and need a rest because of their time spent on the frontline.
The mood of Owens poems in the first stanza is of disgust, sadness and anger. He is sad because the men are no longer what they were. He is disgusted and angry because he looks at these men and they have been reduced from soldiers into “Beggars” and “hags”. The poet was there to witness these events because of the vivid imagery he uses throughout the poem. He also uses the first person pronoun, “we cursed through the sludge”