An analysis of Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est and Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light brigade
Wilfred Owen and Alfred Lord Tennyson both wrote prominent poetry on the issue surrounding war. Owen was born on the 18th March 1893. Owen experienced the war and therefore he wrote elaborate detail on life on the battlefield. One of his famous poems on the aspect of war is known as ‘Dulce et Decorum Est which means it is sweet and beautiful to die for your native land in Latin. Although the title of the poem is positive the message in the poem illuminates the negative aspects of war and is written through the eye of a soldier which is Owen himself. He relates his experience in his poem and mirrors his views negatively about war in depth. Alfred Lord Tennyson was born on 6th August 1809 and is known as a well established poet. He wrote a poem which depicts the bravery and gallantry of a soldier faced with adverse circumstances. His poem The Charge of the Light Brigade is based on a more positive aspect of war and highlights the dedication and bravery soldiers have in name of their country.
In this essay I will first analyse Owen’s poem: Dulce et Decorum Est in term of what message he was trying to convey in his poem and how the use of language helped him convey this message. Next, I will analyse Tennyson’s Poem: The charge of the Light Brigade and observe what language and imagery he used to convey his message. This will lead me onto comparing both poems analysing the similarities and differences of each poem. In doing do I will look at how each poet is effective in conveying the message through their use of imagery.
Wilfred Owen most eminent poem regarding war is known as Dulce et Decorum est which means The Old Lie in Latin. T...
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...eam for fighting for their country is in reality a living nightmare both physically and psychologically and in fact there is nothing honourable in war and life on the battlefield. Instead he wants the reader to understand that war rapes a soldier of human dignity. He does this effectively through the use of his bold description of the gas attack incident and his elaborate description of the soldiers appearances. However, more importantly, Owen achieves conveying his negative aspects of war through his narration of the poem which is exclusively described through the meticulous lens of a soldier which make it reliable and provide an honest perspective towards the authentic life of a soldier on the battlefield and provide a more sombre view of a soldiers life in the trenches.
On the whole, it can be said that both poem provide a differing perspective of war
Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” describes a soldier who witnesses the death of his comrade from poisonous gas. Using imagery and irony, Owen presents a blunt contrast between the propaganda practiced for recruitment and the truth behind the suffering endured by the soldiers. While presented in different formats, both literary works criticize the romanticism of war, arguing that there is no glory in the suffering and killing caused by conflict.
Just as the poem is written in a rhyme and rhythm that makes poetry easy to follow, the vivid imagery helps one to picture more easily what is going on in the poem. Owen brilliantly chooses words and phrases that illuminate the scene, making the reader feel as if he is physically in the scene along with the characters. For example, Owen describes that the Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;/ Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots/ Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind (Gioia 782). A feeling of sadness and pity is felt as one hears the previous words. It is almost as if the scene of the soldiers trudging through the battlefield is being painted for the reader to actually visually ...
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” World War I British Poets. Ed. Candace Ward. Dover Publications, Inc; New York, 1997.
...are a repeat of the title, and also and added line to clarify the actual meaning of the poem. Owen mocks the idea of war being an honorable and nationalistic way to support ones country as he describes a situation in which death is detailed in gruesome detail. This poem is harsh, yet effective in displaying the acts of war and the affect the it has on all of the people involved, especially the foot soldiers who served in the front line, the trenches.
In conclusion, depending on the position from which one views war, the standpoint may vary ranging from being supportive of the soldiers because those who die are dying for the country or they are completely unsupportive of war activities because it is a brutal and gruesome experience involving countless unnecessary injuries and deaths. Affected by a number of factors, the authors of the two poems have chosen opposing standpoints on the issue of war where Tennyson glorified it with the main message that it is an honour to die for one's country whereas the other, Owen suppresses the idea of war by illustrating all the horrid experiences of a soldier.
Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." The Faber Book of War Poetry. Ed. Kenneth Baker. London: Faber, 1997. 3-4.
...ths, but it lasted years. Owen betrays the men of the young generation being brutally slaughtered, like cattle, and were fated to death. Owen recognizes the feelings of the family and friends of the victims of war, the people mourning over the loss of their loved ones. Owen also uses personification in the poem, “monstrous anger of the guns” which reinforces the concept of the senseless slaughter of the soldiers. This makes the audience think about the war, and the image of heavy machine guns can be pictured in their minds, bringing them into the poet’s world of poetry.
In the first stanza, Owen sets the scene through the use of imaginative appeal. This stanza contains a lot of simile and metaphors that show the readers how crushed these men are physically and mentally. The line “Till on the haunting flares we turned ours backs” suggests that Soldiers are turning their back to the lights of the battle field. Being exhausted, their knees are touching, “knock-kneed”, tired of supporting their heavy backpack he compares the condition of the poor soldiers to “old beggars” and “hags”, “like old beggars under sacks”. They are in so much pain, they are not even hearing the noise made by the shells rushing through the air “deaf even to the hoots” they are in a stage of numbness. In a way they are almost dead, like zombies or robots, all they do is follow orders. Owen creates a vivid idea in the reader’s head of how terrible these conditions are through the use of metaphors and similes.
Owen uses imagery constantly to convey the conditions and feelings experienced during this war. Firstly I will be exploring Metaphor as it is used so much in this poem. The first metaphor which I will examine is: “Haunting Flares” on line 3 of the first stanza. This quote has so many connotations, my first opinion on this was that the flares which the enemy are firing to light up the battle field are said to be representing the souls of the soldiers fallen comrades. This could also be said to represent the power the enemy has on their own mortality as the bright flares would light up the battle-field exposing everything to their view, this indicates that the enemy always seem to have power upon the soldiers, almost godly. The second metaphor which I will explore is:
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are two poems which were written during the First World War, and both being written about this conflict, they share the same theme of war poetry. However, the two poems deal very differently with the subject of war, resulting in two very different pieces of writing.
...e see a young boy being taught how to use weapons. In “Exposure”, Owen depicts a group of soldiers freezing to death at war, even though they aren’t in the midst of fighting. Lastly, in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” we read about a soldiers who struggles to get his mask on during a gas attack (when the enemy releases a gas deadly upon inhale). Owen describes the soldiers slow death in detail. Not only do these images provide the reader with first hand accounts of war, but they also show Owen’s feelings towards the war. All of these images that are glued into his head will be there forever, which is why he incorporates these realities in his poems, so that everyone can realize that war is nothing more than a inhumane act of terror.
In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war.
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” makes the reader acutely aware of the impact of war. The speaker’s experiences with war are vivid and terrible. Through the themes of the poem, his language choices, and contrasting the pleasant title preceding the disturbing content of the poem, he brings attention to his views on war while during the midst of one himself. Owen uses symbolism in form and language to illustrate the horrors the speaker and his comrades go through; and the way he describes the soldiers, as though they are distorted and damaged, parallels how the speaker’s mind is violated and haunted by war.
The similes and metaphors used by Owen illustrate very negative war scenes throughout the poem, depicting extreme suffering of young men fighting during World War I. The first simile used by Owen describes the soldiers as “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, giving them sickly, wounded, and exhausted attributes from battle and lack of rest (1). Next, the soldiers are described as “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags”, which once again portrays these young men as sick...
Through the use of dramatic imagery in Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Owen is able to recreate a dramatic war scene and put the reader right on the front lines. The use of language is very effective in garnering the readers’ attention and putting the dire images of war into the mind. He emphasizes that war is upsetting and appalling at times. There is nothing sweet about it. He only strengthens his argument by the use of strong descriptive words and vivid figurative language. The utilization of these techniques gives the poem a strong meaning and provides the reader with a vivid portrayal of the events that took place during this grisly occurrence.