To what extent does form influence attitude? Compare Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade with Sassoon's Prelude: the Troops and examine how the poets' attitude to war is conveyed through their choice of poetic for...

Half a league, half a league

That captures the way the horses are charging. There is also a strong use of rhyme used throughout like, 'reply,' 'why' and 'die'. This makes the poem more fluent and it reads like a song.

There is also a lot of repetition used in the poem, such as:

Cannon to right of them

Cannon to left of them

Cannon in front of them

Volley'd and thunder'd

Here the repetition is used to emphasise the danger they were in. Another technique that the poet uses is alliteration. For example, 'shot and shell.' This makes the action more exciting. *[Ea4]

There are many images in the poem. The most striking is the 'valley of Death'. It is very vivid as we can image the danger they are going through in this charge. At the end of the poem, Tennyson uses words such as 'glory', 'honour' and 'noble'. The choice of language is part of the form. Tennyson's attitude is that these men deserve praise for their brave actions. He feels that it was worth the sacrifice. The tone of the poem makes the story into an action hero type story with a more serious tone of reflection and praise at the end. The choice of form was very important in getting this across. *[Ea5]

Sassoon's poem is far more pessimistic and dark. *[Ea6] The major reason for that is that the words he has chosen are far more dismal and sad. The sound of the poem is important. He uses alliteration a lot in phrases like 'haggard and hopeless' to get across how bad the men are feeling. Another good example is 'stamp their sodden boots' which gets across the poor condition of their uniform. The poem starts with a description of the men and then describes the battle before changing a lot in the last stanza. In the last stanza, Sassoon is talking directly to the men who lost their lives. This is very different in tone from the first two stanzas. The change is perhaps due to the kind of language used. In the first two sections he is descriptive using lots of details like, 'sad, smoking, flat horizons' but in the last he is more abstract, 'some mooned Valhalla.' I think it is good the way the poem changes its message moving from description to a more emotional plea at the end[Ea7]*.

The poem is written with a very heavy, solid rhythm that captures the dreary state of the men. There is some interesting imagery used. One of the best images is of the 'wild beast of battle'. Sassoon has used to personification to make a comment about the brutality of war. Another interesting idea is the sky which 'blossoms' perhaps with explosions. We normally think of flowers blossoming so it more striking that the word is used in this different situation. *[Ea8]

I think the two poems are both praising the soldiers involved but the tone is very different and that is because they have chosen to write in different ways. Tennyson's poem has a stronger rhythm and sounds more upbeat. He is more full of praise for the glories of war. It is very different in Sassoon's poem which is far more negative about war, although like Tennyson he does appreciate the bravery of the soldiers.*[Ea9]

[Ea1]Good awareness of form shaping effect.

[Ea2]This word is a bit vague - it needs more precise expression.

[Ea3]Good, technical vocabulary.

[Ea4]This word is again rather vague.

[Ea5]Good argument, although the expression is a bit stilted. Points do come across.

[Ea6]Good judgement on tone.

[Ea7]Good analysis that is thorough but could go further in assessing the effect of the devices used.

[Ea8]Good analysis of imagery.

[Ea9]A good conclusion that draws a line under well-developed arguments. There is a good level of detail but there is an unwillingness to grapple with interpretations.