Compare and contrast how the poets convey their attitudes to war Essay Example

of death" being repeated in each stanza. These words are strong and make the reader feel as though the battle was horrific.

On the other hand, 'The Hyenas' is written in seven stanzas, all containing four ines with an ABAB rhyme scheme. The tone of the poem is sad and gruesome as you hear about soldiers being dug up, in a ugly state and eaten. Kipling wrote the poem in the 19th Century, however, in the poem Kipling says "But a poor dead soldier of the King". This is not necessarily true as at the time of the Boer War, Britain had a queen and not a king. This shows it was past the Victorian period, when Queen Victoria died.

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' is set in the past and focuses more on the battle itself rather than the aftermath.On the other hand 'The hyenas' is set on the aftermath nd how scavengers are picking out and digging up the dead of the battle. 'The charge of the light brigade' is not only an anti-war poem but also a political one. Lord Alfred Tennyson does not talk about the aftermath of the battle but emphasises on the soldiers being misled by the officer, "Someone had blunder'd". This shows how Tennyson thinks the army and government are incompetent. Tennyson has used the word 'someone'.

This means he has not directed it at a specific person but something in general.In this case it is the government and army who he has directed the blame at. Tennyson praises the charge: "When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! " but also mourns the decision

of the officer who called the charge, "Not tho' the soldier knew, someone had blunder'd"..

. "Charging an army, while all the world wonder'd". This makes the battle seem overall pointless and the lives of the brave men that died rest upon the officers shoulders, which creates irony with the nobility of all the soldiers being un-rewarded because of one man.On the other hand, Kipling questions the nobility of all the soldiers.

He is angered at the way in which members of the same species can brutally kill each other. Nor do they defile the dead man's name - that is reserved for his kind. " This verse shows that Kipling believes human beings should be ashamed of killing each other and it is their fault they have dishonoured the dead man's name. Tennyson shows the stages of battle by slightly changing the repeated words. As they first charge, they have a ".

.. cannon in front of them" but in a later stanza he writes, "..

. annon behind them". This shows they have reached the cannons and are now retreating. Also, referring to the cannons and the end of the valley as "The mouth f Hell" he writes "Back from the mouth of Hell" to show that the soldiers are now retreating from the cannons. Another example of repetition is at the beginning of certain lines the same word is repeated as in the line before.

Such as "Theirs... Theirs" and "Flash'd...

Flash'd". Again the same repetition happens at the end line of every stanza. "Rode the six hundred...

Rode the six hundred". This emphasises the number of men lost in the battle and the number of

noble men who were misled by their officer. This is shown in the fifth stanza in which the two ending lines, "Then they ode back, but not, Not the six hundred" show that many men have lost their lives in this battle. In addition 'The Hyenas' has also some repetition, but not as much. In the second stanza Kipling has repeated the word 'died'; "How he died and why he died".

This emphasises the word death and that the war has killed so many.In 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', there is a rhyme scheme with three lines in each stanza rhyming together. There is another rhythm, continuing throughout the story; hoof beats of the horses in battle are heard with a series of words as the poem is read. This makes an impact on the tone of the story, as now the reader can hear the sounds of the battlefield.

These sounds are made by the amount of syllables in each line. They are always around 6 syllables and certain lines are the same such as; "Rode the six hundred" and "Volley'd and thunder'd".A horse galloping is the rhythm that the poem follows and this gives the reader a sense of reality within the poem and the fear of war. Another sound Lord Alfred Tennyson uses is swords or bullets flying past you by using a lots of words with a hissing sound. This device is called sibilance and is the epetition of a hissing sound. "Stormed at with shot and shell" is a great example of this and gives the reader another sense of being closer to the battle.

On the other hand

Kipling uses imagery to the same effect. He uses strong word such as 'death' and "the dead are safer meat".This brings images of the aftermath of the battle into the readers head. Tennyson seems distressed, angry and passionate about the events at the battle and sympathises with the soldiers: "Boldly they rode and well" and especially when the officers orders them wrongly: "Their's not to make reply, their's not to reason why, heir's but to do and die. " This make the reader also feel sympathetic and saddened that such noble men were led to their death.

"Mouth of death, Jaws of death, Valley of death and Mouth of Hell" are all repeated in the poem, which shows repetition but they are all related to death.This, once again, adds to the tone of war. They are also all personifications, which is one of the many literary devices used in this poem. Personifications in this poem are used to give things in the battle, human qualities, such as: "Mouth of hell.

.. Jaws of Death". Tennyson uses punctuation to great extent, with words being shortened with postrophes, exclamation and question marks also being used. These apostrophes are put in place of the 'e' in certain verbs: "Wonder'd.

.. storm'd... thunder'd" and also "thro'.

.. tho'".This is called elision and it is used to get the attention of the reader and to shorten the words. This makes the line shorter, so as the soldiers are charging, it quickens the pace. The poem also has commands shouted to the soldiers as they are charging into battle: "Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns! He said.

.. " This changes the volume

of the poem, as the opening four lines are gentle and soft. This brings the battle to life, gets the reader interested and excited. Kipling also uses devices such as oxymorons, "the wise hyenas".Hyenas are usually known for their stupid-ness and the poet uses this to give them authority over the dead.

He also uses onomatopoeias such as "whoop and halloo" to give the empty battle land a sense that there is life, or death. 'The Hyenas' is a didactic poem, a poem that states a message and he also uses enjambment, continuing the a sentence beyond the end of a line of stanza; "The wise hyenas come out at eve, to take account of our dead". This gives the poem another edge to it. Also the poet says "our dead".This means he is related to the dead in some shape or form, whether it be country or son.

This would give the poet a biased side and he would feel less angered if it was a foreign country's soldiers. Kipling emphasises on making the reader feel disgust, and ashamed of being around the dead. He also uses continuity, making you feel like the soldier, never giving up. In 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', after the fury of the charge towards the cannons, the final words are gentle and make you reflect on the scenes beforehand: Then they rode back, but not, Not the six hundred".This has an impact on the reader as now he reflects on the battle and is grateful to those who have lost their lives for their country.

The reader is also surprised at the bravery of the soldiers, even

though they knew they would probably die. They knew it was the wrong decision, but they just kept riding and did not question the officer's decision. "Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die". This shows how brave and loyal the soldiers were, not to disobey the officer, even though they knew it was wrong.

In conclusion the poets convey their attitudes towards war in different ways. Tennyson's main approach was to use many devices such as clusters of three and personification to give the reader an idea of how bad war was. Kipling, however, uses imagery to shame the reader, how they can fight and kill against their own species. They both successfully use these devices and their poems have become famous and well-known throughout the years.

Both poets have an impact on the reader. This is the main objective of an anti-war poem, which are designed to make the reader turn against war.