Many poems have been written about warfare, some romantic and others imbedded with the realities of war. In this paper I would like to compare two such poems and hopefully show the reader that the glories of war fall short of its realities. We will be looking at "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson and "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen.
These two poems are prime examples of both the romantic and the realistic views of war. We will see differences in their diction and word choice and by seeing this difference we will begin to understand the separation between the romantic and the realities of war. Both of these poems lay claim to the phrase “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country) but it is in the way that the poets use this phrase, or imply it, that defines their differences, whilst Owen rejects this idea, Tennyson accepts and encourages it.
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" offers its reader a very romantic outlook on war and the glory of war. Glory and honor are key aspects to this poem. What Tennyson does with "The Light Brigade" is to try and make his audience see the courage of the six hundred soldiers. He relates this courage with both honor and glory. To Tennyson a soldier must be brave in the face of death and be ready to charge into hopeless odds for his country, as we see in the second stanza. "'Forward Light Brigade!'/ Was there a man dismayed? / Not though the soldier knew/ Someone had blundered/ Theirs not to reply/ Theirs not to reason why. / Theirs but to do and die." What we also can reason from this stanza is that the soldiers seem to be merely numbers, pieces on a chess board. They have no human characteristics; they are me...
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...s that he gives them. Finally we see that the realities of war outweigh the romantic view of glory and honor. What Owen does is show the reader that people fight and die in wars and that it is not all bravado and the glory of battle.
Works Cited
1. Bergonzi, Bernard. Heroes’ Twilight a Study of the Literature of the
Great War. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc, 1965.
2. Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
3. Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum…” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
4. Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “Charge of the Light Brigade” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000
There are many things in this world that are impossible to understand without first hand experience.This can be especially irritating for people who have the knowledge, but see everyone else with the wrong idea. Philip Larkin and Wilfred Owen show this in their poems about the common misconception of war glorification. Through imagery and the use of similes, they explain what it's really like for a person to go into battle. To outsiders, fighting in war is a noble cause worthy of envy and praise, but from the inside perspective the only thing war does is take away the innocence of
Owen serves as a great example of the losses that war brings. Many other poets, writers, and great minds were lost to the horrors and tragedies of war. Owen had a profound effect on the way that people view war and the events that take place. It also serves as a testament to what people involved with war had to go through, and what the survivors remember most of all, the sickening acts of voluntary torture.
Tim O’Brien states in his novel The Things They Carried, “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat” (77). This profound statement captures not only his perspective of war from his experience in Vietnam but a collective truth about war across the ages. It is not called the art of combat without reason: this truth transcends time and can be found in the art produced and poetry written during the years of World War I. George Trakl creates beautiful images of the war in his poem “Grodek” but juxtaposes them with the harsh realities of war. Paul Nash, a World War I artist, invokes similar images in his paintings We are Making a New World and The Ypres Salient at Night. Guilaume Apollinaire’s writes about the beautiful atrocity that is war in his poem “Gala.”
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” is a poem to celebrate the bravery and honor of the heroic soldiers who surrendered themselves to a greater cause. Throughout the poem Tennyson draws the reader to notice their courage, discipline, and willingness to trust in their commanders. The soldiers of the light brigade, knowing that their lives are in danger and might end soon, nevertheless follow their commander’s orders and charge at the enemy at the end of the valley. The mission is important and necessary for the success of the British campaign and these men take on all the artillery fire from all sides to follow through with their commander’s orders. Tennyson states clearly that this behavior deserves honor, and that the fame of these soldiers
The famous works written in 1917 by poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon cast aside the conventional inspiration for content, patriotism, and delve into the horrific journey that is war. Two poems in particular, Sassoon’s “Suicide in the Trenches” and Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, speak boldly against life in the trenches in efforts of evading the lies and illusions of a clean and righteous war. In doing so, readers are presented with tales that conjure up powerful and far-from-picturesque images that harbor the ability to shake the very core of a human through impactful language as crafted by these poets. While both poems allow the reader to come to the same conclusion that war is not clean, their approaches differ and therefore create a difference in weight of impact. Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is more impactful in that the gruesome imagery is more explicitly defined through dark, evoking diction, and the message of the poem is satirically approached through the strategic title to target a specific audience, while Siegfried Sassoon’s “Suicide in the Trenches” offers a similar message, but is presented in a fashion that relies on heavy contrast of tone to convey the resentful message.
The themes of the two poems are portrayed in very distinctive ways. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ explains in a majestic approach, that fighting in war is something every soldier should honour. The poem is also about the loyalty of the soldiers, not the bad luck or foolishness of men. Tennyson presents this in his poem to show the bravery of the soldiers, although, he only highlights on the benefits of war.
Alfred Lord Tennyson, an English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry, wrote “Charge of the light Brigade,” a poem to commemorate a battle bravely fought by the British troops in the Crimean War. In this poem, Tennyson expresses the deep emotions he felt after reading a newspaper in which there was an account of the Battle of Balaclava, a battle that the British lost. This poem presents a theme of courage and honor, as we can see from the author’s use of detail, diction, and imagery.
To summarize, Owen uses numerous literary techniques to illustrate his firsthand experience of World War One, and communicates his opinions with a distinguished use of metaphors, similes, personifications, themes, imagery and irony. Owen recognized that the high casualties and unnecessary deaths in World War One were all in fact a metaphor for all death in modern warfare; the well known ‘glory’ of dying for one’s country was simply a lie. Thanks to this, he was successful in making people realize that “The old lie: Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori”, ‘It is sweet and right to die for one’s country’ is a terrible misunderstanding, and the poem it depicts an irony of death on the modern battlefield. No matter how noble the reasons may be, nothing but misery, heartbreak and agony can come from war.
Human conflict is a violent confrontation between groups of people due to differences in values and beliefs. During World War I, poet and soldier, Wilfred Owen, faced the harsh realities of human conflict, dying at a young age of 25, only six days before the war ended. Owen’s personal encounters during war had a profound influence on his life as reflected in the poems and letters he wrote before his passing. In using a variety of poetic devices to write about the suffering and brutality of war, vividly captured in his poems ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, Owen effectively conveys his own perspective about human conflict. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ depicts the horrific scenes on the battlefield and a grotesque death from drowning
Wilfred Owen is a British poet, well known for his works relating to World War I. Many of his most famous works such as, “Dulce et Decorum Est,” “The Sentry,” and “The Show” were influenced by Owen’s personal life. Owen strived to tell the truth in his poetry, a factor that would expose the world to war’s deepest secrets. In Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”, the soldier’s perceptions of War are shaped by his involvement on the battlefield; propaganda on the home front presents war as an honour however, the use of violent imagery illustrates war as a corruption of the mind and body.
... 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.
...is witness of atrocity and bleak ugliness stretched to the limit desperation would allow, their enthusiasm would be forgotten, shameful in fact. War is a game of sobriety, a thing to celebrate when finished, not a celebration itself. There is no more Romance in war, and no more Romance in Owen’s poems.
This is in comparison to Owen’s other poems, like, S.I.W, which is five stanzas long. The uniformity of war is indicated through this and again reinforces the idea of regular success for the guns. Along with the length of each verse, the rigid construction used in each verse also complies with the regularity of war as well as, possibly suggesting the pity of war and the unchanging fate of the soldiers.
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.
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.