Post 1900 War Poetry

Post 1900 War Poetry

By looking at several war poems written before and after 1900, I can

see that many elements of the types of poetry change greatly in

several ways. I will be looking at a selection of war poems written by

three different poets, in chronological order, so as to see if the

attitudes to war and writing styles change over time or during various

stages of the war.

Firstly I will be looking at a poem written by Alfred Tennyson about

the charge against the Russian gunners in 1854. The poem is called

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" as it is exactly what happened. The

information that Tennyson used to write the poem came from a newspaper

article from the Times. Tennyson has used the information very well to

give an accurate and informative, yet poetic description of the

charge.

Although Tennyson is writing from secondary information, he has still

incorporated poetic and rhythmic effects to make the poem follow a

rhythm similar to that of a galloping horse. 'Half a league, Half a

league, Half a league onward', the distance of the charge is stated at

the beginning of the poem as it starts straight into the charge.

Although in the article written in the newspaper it states 'At a

distance of 1,200 yards', Tennyson has edited it within similar

distance whilst making the information poetic to read. By starting the

charge at the beginning of the poem, Tennyson has instantly caught the

reader's attention whilst still providing the relevant information for

the poem to tell the story of what happened.

Tennyson glorifies the soldiers greatly by using strong dramatic

language and graphic images that can be vividly formed in the reader's

minds. "All in the valley of Death, rode the six hundred." The

dramatic language here makes it seem like just the unusually small

amount of horsemen used in such a charge would be charging at hell

itself. Tennyson continues to glorify the bravery of the soldiers

throughout the whole poem, 'Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws

of death', yet the emphasis that he uses on death makes the charge

seem futile and that the men are charging towards their own deaths.

Verses 3 and 5 seem very similar when reading the poem, however in

contrast the charge is towards the gunners in Verse 3 whereas it is

the retreat in Verse 5. Yet Tennyson always keeps the repetition of

600 throughout the poem, even when they are retreating and many of

them have already been killed he continues to refer to them as one

group of six hundred that make up the Light Brigade.