Tennyson also uses lots of adjectives such as “Bold,” “Hero,” “Noble” and “Honour” Again, this adds to the image of powerful, knightly soldiers, who know no fear. These adjectives, as well as the other lines that I have mentioned, portray the soldiers as ‘perfect.’ They are brave beyond measure, don’t question orders, prompt as well as being very skilled at their job. This is a very romantic portrayal of the soldiers, but also makes them seem less real. They are portrayed as faultless. However, the epic way in which this poem is written catches the reader in a surge of love for their country. The way the poet doesn’t concentrate on poets individually means you don’t feel sad when you hear of their deaths. It makes you feel that the soldiers’ deaths were needed in the greater effort of the war.
From reading the poem, it is obvious of Tennyson’s feelings towards the soldiers of the Light Brigade. He is awed by their heroics, and proud that they were from the same country as him. The poet also has a great respect for the soldiers, who gave up their lives for the good of the people back at home.
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade doesn’t just describe the soldiers. It also gives us an impression of the actual battle. There is a very defined dactyl rhythm throughout the poem, which brings to the mind of the reader the sound of horse’s hooves charging. Many of the words are quite short, which is also like the short, sharp noise of the hooves hitting the ground. An example of the dactyl is in the very first line of the poem:
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward.
Here, the word half is stressed. The repetition in these lines is also an excellent tool for emphasizing rhythm, as well as the rhyming couplets.
Tennyson uses powerful, commanding verbs in the poem, like “Stormed,” “Charging” and “Flashed.” These add drama to the already epic picture of the battle in the reader’s mind. He also used sibilance in the third stanza: “Stormed at with shot and shell.” Usually the ‘S’ sound is quite soothing but in this case it is used with ‘t’ and ‘h’ which makes is sound very harsh. It also suggests to me the sound of guns firing and explosions around the soldiers. There are very long, continuous sections of lines in the poem, with the use of enjambment. This, to me, represents the continuous, unrelenting course of a battle.
I think that this is a very powerful and dramatic account of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The poet has very intelligently selected what words to use, to portray the soldiers as brave and heroic as he can. However, I believe that words cannot do justice to the type of superhuman courage that Tennyson is trying to portray. The recreation of the battle is exciting and stimulating and overall ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was an extremely powerful poem to read.
‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written by Wilfred Owen during the First World War. Owen fought in this war and experienced first hand what soldiers went through every day. ‘Dulce Et decorum est pro patria mori’ translated in to English means ‘It is sweet and honourable to die for ones country’. If someone is reading the poem for the first time and learns of the English meaning of the title before reading the poem they may feel it is a poem that represents the war in a patriotic way. However, this assumption is far from the truth.
The particular incident that this poem is about is a gas attack on British troops while they are marching to their rest area. The poet describes witnessing one of his fellow soldiers not being able to put on his gas mask in time. This soldier dies a painful death and the images of this haunt Owen for a long time.
In the very first line of the poem, the way the poet describes the soldiers shocks you, because it is so unsoldierlike:
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags...”
These are supposed to be the men defending your country, but the language does not inspire confidence. The men are metaphorically described “Drunk with fatigue” from the ordeal that they have experienced and want nothing more then rest. They are so tired they are zombie like. “Men marched asleep.” These men are mere shadows of those who started out on this adventurous journey. The first stanza contains many words which makes the reader think of tiredness. For example, “Sludge” and “Trudge” have a very heavy ‘D’ sound. They also describe the ghostly way in which the soldiers moved. There is also the line:
“Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs.”
It shows that the soldiers are beyond caring what happens to them, they are nearly dead with fatigue, never mind bullets and shells. Even these shells are described as needing rest.
“…Deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.”
This, the last line of the first stanza, is again a very slow and tired line. However, Owen suddenly creates a complete change in the first line of the second stanza.
“Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” shatters the mood that Owen has portrayed in the first stanza, creates a sense of panic and urgency. It shows just how quickly soldiers had to react to stay alive. The rest of the first line, “An ecstasy of fumbling” also describes the heightened emotion that the soldiers would be feeling.
We then hear of the one poor soldier who didn’t react quickly enough:
“But some still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime…”
Owen compares the effects of the gas as being burned. An incredible agony, and the soldier could do nothing to stop it. The nest two lines continue to describe the horrors that the poet witnessed:
“Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.”
This time the soldier’s death is described as drowning, like in a green sea. The green, which is the view through the gas mask, also creates an eerie effect to the situation. The reality, however, is that the soldier is drowning on his own, toxic blood.
The third stanza consists of only two lines. But make no mistake; these two lines are, I believe, two of the most effective in the poem:
“In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”
These lines describe the effect that the incident had on Owen. He cannot sleep without reliving the trauma that witnessing the soldiers death had on him. The dying soldier is crying out for help, but he is beyond any care. The poet wanted to stop the suffering but any attempt would be futile. The verbs used are very effective in provoking the reader’s imagination. It gives a clear picture of the agony the soldier was forced to endure.
The tone in the final stanza, stanza four, becomes very angry and bitter towards war, and what it represents. Owen uses the word “Smothering” to show the inescapable effect war had on him. The lack of respect for human life is portrayed in the second line, when it uses “Flung” to show how the body was dealt with. The poet then gets a close look at what had become of the soldier. The “Writhing” of his eyes, the “Gargling from the froth corrupted lungs” and how the effects were “Obscene as cancer.” Owen compares his face to that of someone being hanged when he uses “His hanging face.” Of course, this man did not deserve to have died in this way. Owen put this point across when he says “Incurable sores on innocent tongues.” The young man was unfortunate to have to be an example of this.
When the poet uses “My friend,” I believe that he was referring to Jesse Pope. She was a poet, who tried to persuade young men to join the army. One of her poems, ‘Who’s for the Game’ describes war as nothing more than some harmless fun. Owen saw her as the typical unfeeling civilian who was supporting the war from the safety of her home. The poet tells of how people with no experience of the horrors of war have no right to promote it. Owen also feels that Jessie Pope is appealing to very young men, who he describes as “Children ardent for some desperate glory.” At the end of the poem, the title is explained, and put into context of the way it was used:
“The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
Owen strong feels that it is not sweet or fitting to die for anything, especially not the country that sold the soldiers this lie.
After studying ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est,’ I believe that Wilfred Owen wrote this poem to let out some of the truths of war. Also, to try to combat the lies woven by the likes of Jessie Pope, who lead young soldiers to their doom.
Obviously, there are many differences between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est.’ However, one similarity is the great extent to which the two poets express their beliefs through aural and visual effects. The most obvious difference is that Tennyson is trying to immortalise the glories of war, and Owen is expressing his bitterness and anger toward this mass slaughter.
Another difference is the way soldiers are referred to. Tennyson does not include any individual reference to the soldiers, whereas Owen concentrates on the suffering of one in particular, and the effect it has on others.
Another obvious difference is the battles in each of the poems. In ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est,’ the battle is a very short incident. But in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ it is drawn out over many stanzas.
I have picked out a line from each of the poems to show the difference between them. From Tennyson’s poem I have chosen “Was there a man dismayed?” This rhetorical question makes you believe that all of the soldiers were happy and eager for battle. From A ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est,’ the line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,” stands out to me. This is the complete opposite of how Tennyson described troops. Here, the soldiers are barely able to walk, never mind fight to defend their homeland.
Another major difference between the two poems is the value placed on life in each. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ sees death as something that may happen when men are gallantly fighting for their country. In ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est,’ however, emphasis is put on the lack of respect for life, “Behind the wagon that we flung him in.”
The main reason for the difference in the poems of the two poets is the differences of the poets themselves. Alfred Lord Tennyson never fought in a war. He was to write poetry to inspire confidence among the British people in hard times. Wilfred Owen, on the other hand, enlisted in the army when war was declared in 1914. He experienced what every other soldier did during wartime. In fact, Owen was killed near the end of the war in 1918.
These two poems are very different, but they have one major factor in
common; they both achieved what they were written to do. ‘The Charge of the Light
Brigade’ inspired confidence in the British people when they lacked it, and ‘Dulce Et
Decorum Est’ told the public of the truths of war.
