‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson and The Dead Beat’ by Wilfred Owen

Tennyson has great admiration for the soldiers in the battle, describing them as heroes and 'noble'. They are always talked of as a group, not individual people. This makes the reader feel that they worked as a team and shared the same thoughts and feelings. Owen's poem is very different. 'Malingering?.....Not half!' This shows that not all the soldiers had the enthusiasm Tennyson believed they did. Owen does not give the impression that everyone honoured and respected the soldiers. For example 'That scum' is used to describe one man who died. Tennyson on the other hand tells us that everyone cared about the soldiers, 'All the world wonder'd'.

The use of direct speech in the poems can show the poets opinions on how the soldiers were treated and how they thought. There is very little direct speech in 'The Charge of The Light Brigade'. This does not give the reader any real insight into the thoughts of the soldiers or how they were treated. The speech that is used is near the end of the first stanza and at the beginning of the second stanza. " Forward the Light Brigade!" This is simply an order given to 'the six hundred', who follow obediently. The placement of the speech makes it seem like a start to the battle. There is far more direct speech in 'The Dead Beat. The second stanza is entirely speech. This gives the soldiers a mind and a voice and shows more about what they were thinking. It makes them seem more like real people as they are also addressed as individuals. In Tennyson's poem, the speaker is merely named as 'he'. The speaker in the second stanza of

Lianne Evans

'The Dead Beat' is also unnamed, he is only known as 'a low voice'. However, the last speaker in the poem is 'the Doc'.

Both of the poems have a fairly irregular rhyming pattern. There are rhymes in all stanzas of 'The Dead Beat' but the placement of them is not consistent, i.e., the same lines do not always rhyme. There is rhyme in all stanzas of 'The Charge of the light Brigade' except the last one, but again it is not consistent.

The rhythms of each poem are very different. Tennyson's could almost be sung. It has a reasonably upbeat and fast paced rhythm, which is quite like trotting on horses. 'The Dead Beat' only has the rhythm of normal speech making it seem more downbeat and dreary. The layouts of the poems also contribute to this. Tennyson has set his poem out in quite regular, short verses a lot like a song, whereas Owen has only three stanzas that are rather continuous.

In conclusion it is clear that the two poems both give very different images of a battle and it's participants. 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' provides a glorious and noble view of brave soldiers risking their lives with great enthusiasm for their country. An important factor here is that Tennyson had no part in the battle and does not have first hand information. Owen however took part in World War One and therefore has a far more knowledgeable view of war. 'The Dead Beat' then provides a harsh but realistic scene. It shows soldiers missing home and faking illness, and a generally lacklustre atmosphere.