In Dulce et Decorum est Owen describes the soldiers’ actions in a variety of different ways. In the first stanza Owen says, “towards our distant rest we began to trudge”, this implies that every action they did was hard work and that they were very slow and heavy footed when they marched. In the second stanza Owen says “an ecstasy of fumbling” when the gas attack happens, this shows the urgency and haste of there actions trying to save themselves from the gas. Owen also says “fitting their clumsy helmets just in time”, this shows that they were in such a rush to put their helmets on they were very clumsy in doing it. Owen describes:
“Someone still was yelling out and stumbling and floundering like a man in fire or lime. Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, as under a green sea, I saw him drowning”, this extended metaphor is Owen describing the gas like a sea and that the people dying in it look like they are drowning. The use of the verbs “yelling, stumbling and floundering” show the reader how critical and hurried their actions were and give more emphasise on what they did. Conversely, Tennyson describes the how they made the charge as “boldly they rode and well”, showing that they rode very well even though there was the inevitability that they would die in the charge. In the fourth stanza Tennyson says, “Flash’d all their sabres bare, flash’d as they turned in air”, this shows that there actions were very quick and that the Russians didn’t even have much time to fight back. Tennyson describes the soldiers “plunged in the battery-smoke”, this emphasises their actions and give the reader more of an idea of what the battle was like. Tennyson says “Cossack and Russian reel’d from the sabre-stroke, shatter’d and sunder’d”, these sibilant sounds are supposed to mimic the sound of the sabres (swords) giving the reader a better idea of what there actions were like. Tennyson says that the soldiers “fought so well” implying that they did very well in the battle and fought very bravely and honourable. Both poets give a very different insight into what war was like during the period in which the poems were written. In Dulce et Decorum est, Owen gives the impression that war was terrible as he uses a variety of emotive language that is very graphical and hyperbolic, mainly in the third stanza. Such as “watch his white eyes writhing in his face like a devils sick of sin”, this ironic simile implies that the war was so terrible that even the devil didn’t like it. This is ironic because a devil usually loves sins. All through the poem Owen, give the impression that war is horrifying as in the first stanza he gives the idea that the soldiers are in a very bad state of health. In the second stanza, Owen describes the gas attack and gives the reader a good idea of how nasty it is to watch someone die in a gas attack. In the third stanza, Owen uses very graphical and descriptive language to describe the death of a soldier; this shows the reader that the death of a soldier was not an honourable one like what is shown in the propaganda but that it is dreadful and terrible to watch. In Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson gives the impression that they fought well and that they were very courageous and honourable even though they were fighting a battle that would inevitably end in defeat for the British. In the poem Tennyson gives the impression that the war was terrible and very one sided as in the third and fifth stanza he says: “ Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them volleyed and thundered”. This showed that they were greatly out numbered, surrounded by the enemy and that the English soldiers would definitely end up getting massacred by the Russians. In many of the stanzas Tennyson describes the battle as “the jaws of death, and the mouth of hell” these metaphors imply that the battle was horrific and they were almost certain to die. In general, Tennyson give the reader the impression that the war would inevitably end in defeat even though they fought so well. In contrast to Dulce et Decorum est, Tennyson describes what the soldiers did and how they died as honourable and noble. As Tennyson says “horse and hero fell” and “honour the Light Brigade, noble six hundred” this implies that their deaths were honourable and he was very proud of what the soldiers did.
In Dulce et Decorum est Owen uses a rhyme scheme called “iambic pentameter”, he uses this rhyme scheme all the way through the poem. Iambic pentameter is when Owen writes in lines of ten syllables and rhymes the last word of the first line with the last word of the third line and the last word of the second line with the last word of the fourth line. This poem uses this pattern all the way through (a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d and so on). In contrast, Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson uses a dactylic rhyme scheme this is where you read the poem using one stressed and two unstressed syllables. This dactylic rhyme scheme is meant to mimic the sound of horses’ hoofs charging across the battlefields.
In Dulce et Decorum est Owen changes the speed of the poem between the first and second stanza. Owen does this because he wants to show the reader the contrast between the slow trudging along compared to the urgency and haste of the gas attack. Similarly, in Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson changes the pace of the poem to reflect the speed of the charge. It starts of slow gets faster and faster, climaxes in the fourth stanza and then gets slow again, this emphasises the pace of the actual charge and how swift the actual attack and assault was.
In Dulce et Decorum est Owen seems to resent the war and he contradicts the image of a glorious death. In the final stanza Owen uses lots of emotive and graphical language to describe a soldiers death, he is trying to emphasise and influence the reader into believing that war is terrible and it is not an honourable task to perform. In the final few lines of the poem Owen say:
“My friend: you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. These few lines have a tone of accusation as he seems to be implying that false impressions given to the soldiers by their elders are the reason why they all joined the war effort. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori means in English, it is sweet and honourable to die for ones country. Whereas in Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson has a far more positive view on the war and the battle. Even though Tennyson knows that they were inevitable fighting a loosing battle he still praises the soldiers for what they have done. It is quite hard to tell if Tennyson approved of the war because he often says “into the valley of death”, implying that the battle would be terrible and like a massacre. He praises the soldiers a lot in the last stanza and he uses to imperatives “honour the charge they made and honour the light brigade” this shows that Tennyson was so proud of the soldiers that he ordered people to honour what they did even though they lost.
In conclusion, in Dulce et Decorum est Owen portrays war has a bloody and horrific affair. Owen uses very graphical and emotive language to get his views across to the reader. In the first stanza Owen uses a range of similes, metaphors and personification to show how badly the war has taken its toll on the soldiers’ physical and mental states. In the rest of the poem Owen uses very graphical language to describe a soldiers death in a gas attack, this is to show the reader that he strongly disagrees with the view that in a war you get a glorious death but instead it is the exact opposite. Owens general message in the poem is that war is bad and should be avoided at all costs. In contrast, in Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson gives the impression that the British soldiers were fighting a loosing battle. Tennyson gives the impression to the reader that he is not against the war even if they were going to loose but he still praises the soldiers for what they did. In Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson contradicts Owens views, and instead says that it is honourable to die for ones country even if you loose the battle. In general I prefer Dulce et Decorum est because of what the poem stands for, Dulce et Decorum est give the views that war is a terrible thing and Owen is very against it whereas Tennyson seems to be a lot more pro war.
