In contrast, Owen was a soldier poet who based his poems on his own experience of war. Owen fought in the trenches in France in the First World War, which took place between 1914 – 1918. He was sent to France in 1916 and was sent to hospital in Scotland after a shell burst near him in the trenches and he had to be treated for shell shock. He wrote his poems whilst in Craiglockhart Hospital, although Dulce et Decorum Est. is perhaps his most famous. As Owen experienced war for himself, it is reflected in his style of writing. He conveys the horrors of death and the emotional trauma of seeing his friends dying.
Owen was concerned with the “pity of war” and terrible conditions. He was angry at being deceived by the recruitment poems aimed at inspiring young men to join the army. The first stanza is concerned with exposing the lies of the recruitment poems. Owen describes the tiredness and ill health in the trenches. This is shown in the opening line when he says, “…like old beggars under sacks…” this simile is used to compare the soldiers to tattered, unkempt men. He is also trying to show that the weight of their backpacks meant they were bent over, as old beggars would be. He goes on to say they were, “knock-kneed” and “coughing like hags.” Thus describing the condition of the young men as they returned form duty. The force of the language is emulating the force that was put upon the soldiers to carry on in these conditions.
Harsh reality is not Tennyson’s focus in Charge of the Light Brigade. He seems to brush over the subject of death and injury, using euphemisms such as, “…horse and hero fell.” In Tennyson’s poem, death is portrayed as a noble and heroic act. It is his purpose to concentrate on the actual charge itself, thus glorifying war and its intentions. Lord Tennyson draws attention to the nobility of the soldiers, and their determination to carry out and order. This is shown when he says, “Theirs is not to make reply, Theirs is not to reason why, Theirs is but to do and die. “ Here the parallelism is effective to emphasise their powerlessness to question an order. At times in the poem, the issue of death is addressed. In the first stanza the metaphor, “…all in the valley of death,” is used which aptly introduces the sense of inevitability or the certainty of death that faces the brigade.
There is also a contrast in the way the dangers involved in warfare are shown. Wilfred Owen makes the dangers random and unpredictable and presents them in a stark and bold manner. His poem provides a detailed account of a sudden gas attack encountered by the young soldiers. “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” is given with no introduction, in direct speech to replica the feelings. Owen then describes the painful, gruesome death of one of his colleagues, using dynamic verbs effectively “… plunges at me, guttering, chocking, drowning.” By giving a list like this he makes the experience vivid for the reader. This is another example of Owen using his experiences to dissuade other youngsters from joining up. Owen never attempts to glorify war, he describes in its truest form.
On the other hand, Alfred Lord Tennyson only implies occasionally that there are any dangers attached to warfare. In the third stanza of his poem, Tennyson describes how the brigade were surrounded by opposing artillery. He says, “cannons to the right of them…left of them…in front of them.” This simple three line structure gives the impression of them being surrounded on three sides. He also describes how the brigade were “stormed at” and how the guns “volleyed and thundered.” This gives the impression of war being frightening at times, but noble none the less.
It is Lord Tennyson’s idea that it is sweet and honourable for one to die for their country. He uses the rhetorical question, “When Can their glory fade?” to show this. This shows their deaths weren’t in vain. His attitudes may stem from the purpose of his poem. He was, after all, writing for the queen and British Empire. So it would be inappropriate to show the charge in any other way.
Conversely, Wilfred Owen shows war as being wasteful death of young men. He makes a direct appeal to Jessie Pope in the last stanza, that she should no longer write recruitment poems with such enthusiasm. He calls the young men “children” as if to show them as being naïve and innocent. Owen closes his poem saying it is sweet and right to die for ones country. It is appropriate that he had chosen that phrase – in order for him to expose its deceit.
There are a number of reasons why the two poets have written such very different poems on the same subject. Their attitudes also differ; this is largely due to the fact that they were writing for very different audiences.
Personally, I prefer Wilfred Owen’s poem to Tennyson’s, as it shows just how horrible and evil war is, and how nobody should be tricked into going, or be forced to be there. The conditions described in Owen’s poem are horrifying, but he is telling the truth, and it makes it a far better poem, in my opinion. Owen’s poem is clever, he has used the words and different techniques very well in order to achieve a very graphic, horrifying experience for the reader, emulating how the soldiers were feeling in the trenches.