In the first two lines of the poem Owen uses two similes to emphasise how much the soldiers have been transformed by their experiences of war,
‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-Kneed, Coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’. These two lines suggest that the soldiers have been robbed of their dignity and respect because their status which is being perpetuated as really well has been reduced to old beggars and hags. ‘Old beggars under bags’ suggests the way that the soldiers are holding their bags on their backs. ‘Old’ could be suggesting that they are crippled. ‘Coughing like hags’, suggests that they have caught heavy and whooping coughs due to the war. ‘Cursed through sludge’ tells us how hard it is for them to walk and get through the mud.
In the rest of the first verse Owen emphasises the physical suffering and exhaustion of the soldiers through unpleasant and upsetting imagery and the slow rhythm of the poem to give the true message of war that he had to experience. ‘Trudge and limped’ is used to tell us that the soldiers are walking with great difficulty. ‘Men marching asleep’ suggests that the soldiers have lost their discipline, energy and authority due to the hard and tough regime that they are going through. ‘Deaf’ is used to tell us that the soldiers can’t hear because of the constant bombardment of bombs and the noise of the bullets exchanged at both sides. ‘Blind’ suggests that they ant see due to the gas-shells being dropped upon to them. ‘Drunk with fatigue’ suggests that their bodies are consumed with tiredness.
The rhythm of the second verse quickens as the men come under attack and panic sets in to show the reader how depressing, gruesome, horrific and vile the war was. The exclamation marks suggests that there was shouting and no time was given which shows the soldiers panicking which makes the reader ponder and feel what is happening at the scene of the war. This also shows that the soldiers are hurriedly putting on their gas masks.
Owens description of the single soldier who has inhaled the mustard gas is extremely graphic. He uses a powerful simile to explain the soldiers suffering and agonising death, ‘drowning’ is used to show that the soldier is drowning in fire from the inside due to inhaling the gas which made him drown from inside. ‘Like a man in fire lime’ is used to suggest that the inside of the man is burning with liquid and not fire and it shows us that the soldier was screaming and was too late now to get saved.
Owen suggests that he too has suffered as a result of seeing the death of soldiers. He is haunted every time he sleeps and is forced to relive the death of the soldier whom he saw inhaling the gas and dying in front of him. The overall tone/mood is that he is angry, frustrated and sickened at those who advocate war. There is a sense of rage at those who had little idea of what really happened during battle.
In the final verse of the poem Owen invites those who glorified war to walk behind the soldier dying in agony and witness his horrible death. The soldiers face is described as being twisted in pain, ugly ‘like a devils’ due to the transformation being carried out by the gas-shells which changed the colour of his face by making him look as red as a devil
Owen uses a rhyme scheme in Dulce et Decorum est. I.e. in the first stanza of the poem Owen uses, A B, A B, C D, and C D. Just as this rhyme scheme is constant so is Owens opinion of war that it will always stay vile and horrific.
Owen shows the pity of war in Dulce et Decorum est in four different ways. Firstly he shows it in the description of the suffering soldiers in verse one. Secondly in the death of the soldier who inhaled the gas. Thirdly in the way that Owen suffers psychologically because of his experience of war. Finally, in the way children believed the old lie which suggests that they too will still grow up believing that dying for ones country is heroic, and so there will never be an end to worthless sacrifice.
The poem The Charge of the Light Brigade is the story of a battle that took place during the Crimean war in the Nineteenth Century. It is structured into six verses, with each verse telling the reader about a different part of the battle. The first verse begins with the men being given the order to charge, which leads into the second verse. Here the poet tells us that the order to charge was a mistake, which someone in charge had ‘blundered’. Verses three, four and five give us details about the main part of the battle, telling us of the army that these six hundred men faced and how many men from both sides were killed. In the final verse the poet tells us that we should honour the bravery of the six hundred British soldiers. In writing about this battle the poet tells us what a view of a soldier’s duty is ‘Theirs but to do and die’. Even though the order to charge the Russian army was a blunder, they must do their duty. He uses repeated words and phrases to underline the odds that are facing the British soldiers as they charge ‘Cannon to the right of them/ cannon to the left of them/ Cannon to the front of them’. He also uses an unusual language to emphasise the danger that they face, for example ‘Into the Valley of death rode the Six Hundred’ and ‘Stormed at with shot and shell’ to emphasise the intense fire power they faced. In verse five the poet goes on to describe each man as a ‘hero’ to draw attention to their deeds. The poet’s use of rhyme is interesting, as it seems to make the rhythm of the poet faster, perhaps even matching the fast pace of the battle. In the final verse the poet tells the reader ‘honour the charge they made’ because he thinks that war can be a glorious thing, even though it results in the death of many men.
This is an interesting picture of war because Tennyson was not actually there to see this battle, and the glory that he seems to see from a long way away may have turned to horror if he had seen the battle when it actually took place. Tennyson describes the soldiers going to war who are full of energy and vigour whereas in Dulce et Decorum est the soldiers are coming from war and are all weary, tired wounded and horrified. Dulce et Decorum est is written in the first person ‘I’. Owen is in the poem telling the events. The poem is extremely graphic and a firsthand account of war and its horrors. Whereas in The Charge of The Light Brigade, Tennyson gives us a second hand account of the battle which he got from news papers and from the media. The tone/mood gives a patriotic feel to this poem. Tennyson doesn’t criticise the soldiers or the person who gave the order but he is giving homage to the soldiers. Whereas in Dulce et Decorum est Owen is clearly bitter at those who advocate war and he is emotionally involved in the suffering of the soldier(s). Tennyson’s language is commemorative and heroic. Whereas in Dulce et Decorum est Owen uses graphic language to show the obscenity of war. The main difference between Dulce et Decorum est and The Charge of the Light Brigade is that Tennyson commemorates on the soldiers who give their lives in the way of their countries whereas Owen addresses the people who advocate the war by telling them how evil, vile and horrific war is.
Both poems talk about war but not in the same manner. The Charge of the Light Brigade glorifies, praises and elevates war where soldiers die honourably for their country whereas Dulce et Decorum est criticises and depicts the true horrors and realities of war. These poems are relevant today because there are wars happening nowadays too in Iraq. I think that Dulce et Decorum est is more effective because Owen wrote a firsthand account of war. I think that Owen gets is message across to the readers more successfully because he shows a really graphic and horrific image of war. I prefer Dulce et Decorum est because Owen himself suffered the war and was there which is a more reliable account whereas Tennyson just got information from newspapers and media which is not a firsthand account of war.
