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A Comparison of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum est” to Alfred Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade”
In this essay I will attempt to compare and contrast Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum est” to Alfred Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade”. I will examine the use of poetic devices in the poems as well as outline what is happening in each.
Wilfred Owen was born on the 18th of March 1893 in owestry, United Kingdom. He was the oldest of four children and was educated in an evangelical school. Though Owen rejected most of his beliefs by 1913 the influence of his education still remains evident in his poems and their themes of sacrifice, biblical language and his vivid, frightening description of hell. One of the main influences on Owen’s poetry was his meeting with Siegfried Sassoon, though Owen soon fashioned his own style and approach to the war. The characteristics of Owen’s poetry are the use of Para rhyme (The rhyming of two words which have the same consonants but whose stressed vowels are different), alliteration, and assonance.
Alfred Tennyson was born on 5th August 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire and died on the 6th October 1892 to later be buried in the poet’s corner in Westminster Abby. Tennyson was often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry, succeeding Wordsworth as poet laureate in 1850.
Wilfred Owen’s poems are inspired by the horrors of his own experiences in World War One from 28th July 1914 to 4th November 1918, the day that he died 1 week before the armistice. At the time of this poem there were excessive amounts of propagandistic poetry for example Jessie Pope’s “Who’s for the game?”
Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” was written to commemorate the suicidal charge by British light cavalry over open terrain in the Battle of Balaclava (Ukraine) in the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856. This was the first war to have photographic media coverage. Of the 637 men involved in the charge, 247 were killed or injured.
Tennyson describes the valiant charge of the light brigade into “the jaws of death”. Tennyson makes use of repetition, allusion, and personification to paint a vivid picture of the charge and at the same time give the reader an insight into the mind of the brave soldiers of the light brigade. The rhythm of this poem imitates the sound of the horses galloping towards th...
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...nly minor injuries can me sustained from war for example a broken leg.
I preferred “Charge of the light brigade” because the pace and rhyming scheme give a sense of action and excitement. Strong metaphors and similes are used to provide the reader with an insight into the minds of the soldiers. I especially like how Tennyson describes the conflict itself in the 4th stanza, as this is a strong example of the sense of action in his work.
The perception of war has gone through much change since the time of Tennyson, in Tennyson’s time war was regarded as a good thing but over time the perception of war has completely reversed, and in my opinion it seems these days that war is something that should be avoided at all costs mainly due to the technical advances made giving war much more potential to destroy more than just lives. I will conclude this essay with a quote from “the charge of the light brigade” which I believe shows the heroism of those men who died for their country and persevered under impossible odds.
“When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made,
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
Early on the morning of the last day of the battle July 3, The Union was the first to strike by having a change of events. The Northerners offensively attacked and pushed on the Confederate troops on Culp’s Hill in hopes of regaining territory lost the day before. Union forces pushed back the Confederate threat for around 8 hours and regained their lost land from the Confederate soldiers on day 2 of the battle on Culp’s Hill. Lee believed that on July 2nd; victory was within his grasps, so he decided to send three divisions of his men covered by an artillery attack against the Union center line on Cemetery Ridge. 15,000 troops, led by George Pickett, who would be asking these 15,000 men to accept the task of marching around 3/4 of a mile across an open field to attack entrenched Union positions with good stone walls for cover, who would with heavy artillery support behind them belittle the Confederate troops with barrages of fire. Longstreet strongly protested against
On July 1st 1863, General Robert E. Lee led an attack in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the battle lasted for three days. On July 1, the Union success failed as Confederate soldiers pushed back against the Iron Brigade and exploited a weak Federal line. On July 2nd, there were heavy battles around Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill, and East Cemetery Hill. Confederate soldiers captured Devil’s Den and the Peach Orchard, but didn’t stop the Union defenders. On July 3rd, fighting started at Culp’s Hill when the Union regaining its lost ground. After being cut down by a massive artillery bombardment in the afternoon. Lee attacked the Union center. Lee's second invasion of the North had failed, and had resulted in heavy casualties; an estimated 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured, or listed as missing after Gettysburg. Years later the war ended.
How Wilfred Owen Uses Language and Imagery in His Poetry to Communicate his Attitudes of War
The poem has been written as four uneven stanzas this has been done purposefully to express how unpredictable war is. With the varying lengths of stanzas the breaks become unexpected in the poem; the reader is given the impression of how erratic war is, only given short moments of respite, with no predictability throughout the years on the frontline. Owen begins his work with a strong use of imagery to portray the conditions and the state of the soldiers. By using similes such as “like old beggars under sacks” and “coughing like hags” the reader is able to clearly visualize the state of the soldiers. This is also how Owen describes the state of the condition in which they were fighting in “we cursed through sludge”. These lines provide the reader with a very distinct vision of what was occurring. After this the poem describes a gas attack and the fear that the men felt. “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumb...
This quote suggests that Tennyson’s poem glorifies the war, celebrating the sacrifice they had made for their country. By glorifying the Brigade, Tennyson has ignored the obscurity and massacre of the war; this is shown by the loyalty that the soldiers have for their country. The commitment of war in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is only shown because Tennyson's looking at war from afar .We can see this because in the poem he has not used descriptive language to describe what war was like, and has not shown the real outcome of war.
World War One was one of the deadliest results of human violence, simply to attain riches, land, and to fulfill the greed for victory and pride. Young and old men alike were deceived into joining war to fulfill a fictitious and nationalistic duty, and were forced to live in the inhumane conditions in the trenches, offering their lives as a patriotic duty. In Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et decorum est”, the readers are given an accurate description of the hardships and horrors of the world war 1, through the personal experience and eyes of Owen himself. Poetic devices and figurative language were both used immaculately in representing the tormenting situations that the soldiers were placed in. Vibrant imagery, themes and irony were also incorporated exceptionally into the poem, adding depth and meaning. With a remarkable use of techniques, Owen really creates a mental image of utter despair, disgust, revulsion and well, war in our minds.
Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. It was the most famous and important Civil War Battle to occur over three hot summer days in July in the humble market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg was the confrontation between two major American Cultures the North and the South. The cause of the Civil war was the clash of these two cultures. The Confederacy had an agricultural economy producing tobacco, corn, and cotton, with many large plantations owned by a few very rich white males. These owners lived off the sweat of sharecroppers and slaves, charging high rates for the use
... Instead of idealizing war in a romantic way, war poets such as Wilfred Owen aimed to expose gruesome truths about these wars and how they impacted lives. It points a finger and criticizes the governments and authorities that wage these wars but don’t fight in them themselves but rather watch as lives are lost. It exposes propaganda for what it is, a tool for brainwashing. It puts into question the notion of dying for ones country to be noble, honourable and admirable.
‘Poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways.’ It provokes the readers to consider events, issues and people with revised understanding and perspectives. The poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen, 1917) and Suicide in the Trenches (Siegfried Sassoon, 1917), were composed during World War One and represented the poets’ point of views in regards to the glorification of war and encouraged readers to challenge their perspectives and reflect upon the real consequences behind the fabrications of the glory and pride of fighting for one’s nation.
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” World War I British Poets. Ed. Candace Ward. Dover Publications, Inc; New York, 1997.
To draw into the poet’s world, the poet must draw relations between them, including the reader, making them feel what the poet feels, thinking what the poet thinks. Wilfred Owen does this very creatively and very effectively, in both of his poems, Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori and Anthem of Doomed Youth, who is seen as an idol to many people today, as a great war poet, who expresses his ideas that makes the reader feel involved in the moment, feeling everything that he does. His poems describe the horror of war, and the consequences of it, which is not beneficial for either side. He feels sorrow and anger towards the war and its victims, making the reader also feel the same.
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.
As poet laureate and patriot, Alfred, Lord Tennyson was very influential in 19th century England. He successfully showed the ignorance of the English Army leaders while still reflecting his strong nationalist views in an attempt to create propaganda for the Crimean War in his poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” The charge was a tragic incident that took place in 1854 during the Crimean War, which was England, France and Sardinia against Russia, when English Army generals blundered and sent over six hundred soldiers on a charge that was destined for disaster. The solders were known as the Light Brigade and the charge resulted in over two hundred deaths to soldiers and over three hundred deaths to horses. In this horrific aftermath, Tennyson responded to this event by writing a poem which went on to become a classic. Tennyson was a strong nationalist and very political. He was moved and troubled when he received news of the tragic charge. The poem became a form of propaganda for the Crimean War due to Tennyson glorifying the sacrifice of the soldiers by using his exceptional writing skills. Although this poem is regarded by many as propaganda, he included the word blunder in the poem which showed the ignorance of the Army leaders.
soldiers, and the unexpected experience of war. Lord Tennyson looks at the superior side of war and celebrates the beauty of war, although not knowing, the war had blundered and six hundred soldiers were now dead.
Wilfred Owen wrote about the distilled pity of war from his first-hand experience. Owen concisely features the carnage and destruction of war in both the poems, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Strange Meeting’ Owen uses these poems document the psychological and physical debilitation of war. In ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, Owen uses a various amount of literary techniques to visually depict the cruel and grotesque death from the mustard gas whereas ‘Strange Meeting’, portrays the speaker in conversation with a dead soldier that he is presumably responsible for killing, symbolically which emphasises the effect of the wartime trauma. Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively highlights the carnage and destruction of war to educate the audience on the disillusionment of war.