Tennyson uses speech in his poem, which are the words of the commander.
"Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!"
This makes the poem personal, and involves the reader. The term ‘The valley of Death' is a biblical term from the bible. The effect of using biblical terms creates evil. He uses onomatopoeias, such as ‘Thundered’ and ‘Volleyed’. These words create a sound of action, creating suspense in the reader’s head. He describes death using alliteration and verbs:
"Theirs but to do and die"
"...Jaws of death",
The alliteration helps add rhythm to the poem, whilst adding the picture of death to the reader.
Lord Byron’s poem ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ is about the Kings in the Bible. The Assyrian king tries destroy Judah, which is a Jewish place. The poem is about the Jews not fighting in a battle, but instead asking for Gods help, and when he does, God destroys all of the enemies. It is set in 681 Before Christ.
The poem has a simple, easy to read rhythm.
"The Assyrain came down like the wolf on the fold"
The simple rhythm gives the poem authority.
The poem uses similes in it.
"The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold"
This shows how the Assyrian appear like a wolf: Predatorial, cunning and sharp. It appears that the Assyrian are all powerful, and the ending shows that no one is as powerful as God.
The effect of using this similie also shows the reader about all the innocence of nature and how it can be easily created. The beginning of the poem is about life, the wolf, and the end of the poem is about death, the soldiers 'melting like snow', these are both themes of nature. It says about the power that God has over mankind.
There is lots of repetition in this poem, such as starting many lines with 'And', this is to add to the drama of the poem. Also it reflects the Bible. Lines five and seven in the poem are two lines with similar, but opposite meanings.
"Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green
That the host with their banners at sunset were seen
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown
That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strown"
This shows how at the beginning the army appear strong and unstoppable, and then when it changes to the autumn they are all dead. This also shows the power of God.
Line ten in the poem is a very soft sounding line, as if uses alliteration of the f's.
"And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd"
This shows the peace of the angels. The line highlights the reason that the Assyrian are dead.
Compared to 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', this poem is similar in a few ways. Both poems are about armies being destroyed, but in different ways. Another is that both of the poets weren't at the war at the time, they both reflect on the aftermath of war. What is different is that 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' was an actual historical event, but 'The Destruction of Sennacharib' is not necessarily true, as it is a myth. Also Tennyson respects the soldiers involved in the war, but Byron respects God.
Seigfried Sassoon's poem 'Base Details' is about a soldier writing about the Majors involved in World War One, which gave incorrect orders and killed 60,000 soldiers in one day. He was very angry in his poem, and he describes his sarcastic feelings towards the Majors. The poems say that the Leaders did not care about the soldier's death, and that they see the war as an innocent 'scrap'.
The poem is written in an iambic pentameter, which is said to be the natural rhythm of speech.
"If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath"
This helps the reader get involved into the poem. The whole poem is written about the criticism of the commanders.
The language used in this poem uses first person from the writer:
"If I were fierce, and bald…”
This is to involve the reader in the poem, and to show Sassoon's feelings. With these words, Sassoon is suggesting that the Majors are short tempered snd ungrateful people. In line one Sassoon describes the soldiers as glum. This is to show that the soldiers are not happy in what they are doing.
In line four, there are a lot of plosive sounds used.
"...puffy petulant face"
This is to show that Sassoon is almost spitting out his anger. In line 5 there is a lot of alliteration with the ‘G’ sound.
"Guzzling and gulping"
This shows the direct speech to the reader.
In line nine, the term 'stone dead' is used. This is to describe the stone of the gravestone, which is cold, and a final end.
Compared to The Destruction of Sennacherib and The Charge of the Light Brigade, this poem is different but also similar. It is different because the other two poems are talking about the war as it happened, but this poem is not set at the time and place of the war, it is about the feelings a soldier had afterwards. It is also different because this poem is set in the first person. It is similar as it is about a war.
The poets seem to be saying that war is acceptable, as none of them say that war is a bad thing. Lord Tennyson is saying that war is glamerous, and the soldiers are noble and couragous. Lord Byron is saying that war does not matter, as the Lord will save those who believe in him. Seigfried Sassoon is basically saying that war is neither good or bad, but the leaders who led him to war were bad people.
I prefer 'Base Details' as it shows war from a soldiers point of view, and that the soldiers are innocent to the superior leaders. It shows a soldiers disgust with the attitude of the Commandors.
