The Charge Of The Light Brigade Analysis
World War one was a brutal ordeal that caused an abundance of death of 10 million soldiers and 7 million civilians. The tragic event left surviving victims emotionally traumatized from life-threatening experiences, poets dealt with their personal experiences and perspectives of war in different ways. Alfred Lord Tennyson, a Poet Laureate that worked during Queen Victoria’s reign, famously wrote The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. The poem was written to memorialize the 637 British men that fought bravely in the virtually suicidal battle against the Russians in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War (1854-1886). Tennyson perceives war to be glorifying and valiant, this is evident through the use of an exhilarating tone and langue.
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The poem Dulce et Decorum est was written by Wilfred Owen, an English poet whose poems were characterized by his resent towards war. Owen’s antipathy towards war was formed by his traumatic firsthand experience as a solider. It is made overt through the use of confronting imagery that Owen is highly critical of war and perceives soldier’s not to be noble heroes, but victims ravaged by the harsh actions of war. Although both poems show the brutality and harshness that comes with war they, in contrast, are very different and show how the one’s perceptions of war can change due to the time and intimacy.
Although the poems of Dulce et Decorum Est and Charge of the light Brigade both show the inevitable repetition of death that comes with war they overall have a different purpose and intended effect on their target audience.
Tennyson’s objective in writing the didactic poem was to honor the ‘noble six hundred’ British men who fought bravely during the Crimean war. He saw war as glorifying and a very brave and noble way to die for one’s country, this is reflected upon through his poem as he uses an exhilarating tone and langue such as ‘noble’ and ‘hero’ to convince his audience to share his perspective of war. Owen’s perspective was completely different to Tennyson as he saw war as a means to settling disagreements between countries. Owens Dulce et Decorum est targeted the ignorance of people who were incompatible to the brutality of war. Owen’s overall scheme in writing the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was to reveal to his audience the bleak realism of war and how it creates victims, not heroes. Through harsh imagery, soldiers are compared to ‘hags’ and ‘old beggars’ to show how war is not glorifying but dehumanizing. Unlike Tennyson, Owen had intimate experience in battle which influenced him to be cynical of war and perceive it to be immobilizing. Moreover, the intended effect on the audience for both poems was very
diverse.
The poem Dulce et Decorum est was written by Wilfred Owen, an English poet whose poems were characterized by his resent towards war. Owen’s antipathy towards war was formed by his traumatic firsthand experience as a solider. It is made overt through the use of confronting imagery that Owen is highly critical of war and perceives soldier’s not to be noble heroes, but victims ravaged by the harsh actions of war. Although both poems show the brutality and harshness that comes with war they, in contrast, are very different and show how the one’s perceptions of war can change due to the time and intimacy.
Although the poems of Dulce et Decorum Est and Charge of the light Brigade both show the inevitable repetition of death that comes with war they overall have a different purpose and intended effect on their target audience.
Tennyson’s objective in writing the didactic poem was to honor the ‘noble six hundred’ British men who fought bravely during the Crimean war. He saw war as glorifying and a very brave and noble way to die for one’s country, this is reflected upon through his poem as he uses an exhilarating tone and langue such as ‘noble’ and ‘hero’ to convince his audience to share his perspective of war. Owen’s perspective was completely different to Tennyson as he saw war as a means to settling disagreements between countries. Owens Dulce et Decorum est targeted the ignorance of people who were incompatible to the brutality of war. Owen’s overall scheme in writing the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was to reveal to his audience the bleak realism of war and how it creates victims, not heroes. Through harsh imagery, soldiers are compared to ‘hags’ and ‘old beggars’ to show how war is not glorifying but dehumanizing. Unlike Tennyson, Owen had intimate experience in battle which influenced him to be cynical of war and perceive it to be immobilizing. Moreover, the intended effect on the audience for both poems was very
diverse.