Having Studied War Poetry From The 19th And 20th Centuries, Discuss The Various View Of War As Expressed Be Some Famous Poets.

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Having Studied War Poetry From The 19th And 20th Centuries, Discuss The Various View Of War As Expressed Be Some Famous Poets.

The attitudes of poets towards war have always been expressed vigorously in their poetry, each poet either condoning or condemning war, and justifying their attitudes in whatever way possible.  These two poems describe war, and scenes of war from different viewpoints.  Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade was written during the Crimean War.  It is about a military blunder where 600 men were sent directly into gunfire.  Lord Tennyson at the time of the Crimean War was in England and did not witness any fighting.  “Dulce et Decorum est” however was written during the First World War, by Wilfred Owen.  Owen was a soldier and writes from first hand experience, this makes his poetry more reliable and realistic.  Owen spent months in disgusting conditions in the trenches near the front line, as shown by the way the solders were “coughing like hags”.  He really wants to show clearly the realities of conflict, behind the heroism and splendour, and the vivid language and the imagery he uses show this, he has a very unromantic view of war.  However Lord Tennyson shows a totally view of war.  It could be said that Tennyson is trying to underestimate the death of so many men.  Tennyson was not in the war, he was in Britain during the campaign therefore he relied on accounts from soldiers (most likely high ranking officers) and his imagination to write the poem.  He does not consider the dreadful realities of war, only the honour and bravery.

The two writers try to make their poems sound as realistic as possible and as convincing as possible.  Both writers use direct speech in their works. In Tennyson’s poem “Forward the Light Brigade” is used and in “Dulce et Decorum est”, we hear “Gas! Gas! Quick boys”.  This direct speech makes the poems more exciting.  The two lines express action, but also adds a touch of realism and immediacy.  Owen makes his poem more realistic by using the senses to aid his descriptions.  He includes the sounds of gas shells dropping, and of “the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs”.  He then gives an impression of the awful taste of this blood “bitter as the cud of vile”.  This descriptive use of senses makes the poem more realistic and shocking.  Owen use of Latin in his poem shows his intelligence and that he is very well educated.  He writes “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” translated this means “sweet and meet it is to die for one’s country”.  This use of Latin makes his poem seem somewhat more reliable and making him more credible. Tennyson does not use senses but instead gets the discipline of the Light Brigade across “Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die”. This brings the level of discipline to light making it more convincing.  However at the same time Tennyson is still trying to imply that the soldiers were brave and heroic as they are prepared to die unnecessarily.

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“Dulce et Decorum est” uses very shocking images which create an often sickening mood.  The first simile that Owen uses is “bent double, like old beggars under sacks”.  This is totally unexpected as an army is supposed to be smart and well dressed, as poets such as Jessie Pope have been telling the British public in newspapers and by propaganda that the war is “The red crashing game of a fight”.  This image that Pope is trying to get across is that “The Great War” is basically nothing more than children fighting in a playground.  Also in contrast to the ...

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