Dulce Et Decorum Est And The Charge Of The Light Brigade Essay Example

enter the battlefield.

Furthermore, stanza 1 emphasizes the uncertain probability of the six hundred achieving victory, as it declares that "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred." This portrayal highlights the unlikelihood of a triumph for the six hundred.

Tennyson portrays a noble image for the soldiers in the first stanza, utilizing dramatic and emotive description. However, he refrains from depicting the gory details of their deaths, as it would diminish the nobility of sacrificing oneself for their country.

Stanza 2 commences with a highly intense tone with the directive "Forward, the Light brigade!" This highlights the bravery of the men and anticipates the imminent action. The verse reveals that due to an error, these soldiers were being sent into battle and facing certain death. However, the use of rhetorical repetition illustrates that the men did not question the order but dutifully carried out their duty and fought for their nation.

'Theirs is not to make reply,
Theirs is not to reason why.'

The soldiers' obedience and unquestioning manner are conveyed by Tennyson through the phrase "Theirs but to do and die''. The valley of death is also employed to illustrate the soldiers' inevitable fate. Furthermore, rhetorical repetition is utilized to emphasize the severity of the war as the six hundred find themselves in the midst of the action.

There are cannons positioned to the right of them.

Cannons are positioned to the left of them.

Cannons were displayed in front of them, signifying the overwhelming disparity in this war and the desperate outnumbering of the six hundred.

The stanza in question also utilizes alliteration, particularly in the phrase 'Stormed with shot and shell'. This allusion to a

storm is effective in conveying the relentless and destructive nature of the battle. Additionally, the third stanza employs frequent words starting with the letter 'S' to create a sense of hastened verse, effectively capturing the intensity and speed of the events unfolding. The repeated use of sibilant sounds further emphasizes the men's proximity to death.

The battle is depicted as savage with phrases like 'Jaws of death' and 'Mouth of hell'.

The recurring mention of "six hundred" at each verse's conclusion highlights the immense number of casualties and the vast count of individuals who sacrificed themselves for their nation. However, as the play concludes, they are hailed as champions and honored with the distinguished title, "the noble six hundred".

The fourth verse illustrates the remarkable courage of the six hundred, who fought fiercely until their last breath.

Their blades were abruptly revealed.

The soldiers demonstrated their bravery by swiftly and skillfully attacking the gunners. This use of various action verbs exemplifies their courage. The repetition of rhetorical devices in stanza 3 and stanza 5 emphasizes the soldiers' active involvement in the midst of the intense combat. The sibilant sounds used in the verse create a sense of urgency and speed. Additionally, we witness the retreat of the six hundred soldiers from what is referred to as the 'Jaws of death', symbolizing their miraculous escape from near-certain demise.

The stanza uses additional punctuation to indicate the men's contemplation of the battle and their iconic charge.

The final stanza emphasizes the soldiers' bravery and their patriotic attack on the enemies, creating a state of immorality around their actions.

'When will their glory diminish? Oh, the daring attack they executed! ...

The stanza in the poem 'Honour

the Charge' pays tribute to the courage and bravery displayed by the Light Brigade, specifically the noble six hundred. It serves as a concluding statement emphasizing their heroism and dedication.

Contrarily, in Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est', readers are urged to question the notion of glory and nobility associated with sacrificing one's life for their country. Owen draws from his own personal wartime experiences to illustrate the harsh realities of war and its impact on individuals.

Owen believes that dying for one's country is not a glorious act, and this sentiment is emphasized throughout the poem. The poem begins with a shocking revelation that challenges our idealized perception of soldiers as noble figures.

The soldiers, bent double like old beggars under sacks, are knock-kneed and coughing like hags as they curse through sludge. This portrayal highlights their opposite image from the tall, proud, and prestigious soldiers often depicted. Clearly unfit for battle, the soldiers are not portrayed as patriots but rather as beggars.

The soldiers' nobility is being taken away before our eyes. They march while sleeping, many without boots,
but still, they limp on, their feet bloodied. All of them are lame, all blind.
In this portrayal, we witness the soldiers' exhaustion as they struggle through the mud, similar to hags. The poem emphasizes how the army life drains a soldier's youth and energy, deteriorating their well-being. These soldiers are portrayed as the complete opposite of Tennyson's "noble six hundred." The first stanza indicates the lack of action experienced by these soldiers, who even disregard the sound of shells falling. Overall, this stanza creates a serene and inactive atmosphere.

Owen uses the terms "we" and "our" in this stanza, indicating

his personal involvement in the war and the specific incident described. The soldier's primary focus is on seeking safety rather than defending their country, highlighting their emotional detachment from the war. They are described as "marching asleep", leaving them vulnerable to attacks and unprepared to defend themselves. Punctuation is used extensively throughout the stanza, creating a feeling of length and elongating the pauses between lines. This punctuational emphasis serves to convey the extended duration it takes for the soldiers to return to the trenches and emphasizes their extreme fatigue.

The second stanza presents a stark contrast to the first. It is filled with action, thrusting us into the midst of the soldiers and their perilous situation.

GAS! GAS! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time.

Here, we witness the soldiers' lack of coordination and their display of clumsiness as they hastily don their helmets. The use of words like 'ecstasy' and 'fumbling' effectively conveys the sudden surge of adrenaline that disrupted their otherwise stagnant lives. The stanza employs brief, single-syllable words to create a sense of rapidity. This quickened pace highlights the rapid shift in events from the previous stanza. Owen illustrates how this burst of action provides the soldiers with an adrenaline rush, as their usual routine on the front line involves mundane trench life with little excitement.

In this passage, Owen describes the unfortunate incident where a man is unable to put on his gas mask in time, resulting in his distressing struggle. Owen empathetically expresses his helplessness in saving him. The use of vivid adjectives effectively illustrates the intense pain endured by the soldier, as Owen intricately details the terrifying and

excruciating experience. The soldier’s demise is likened to drowning, burning, and being killed by lime. The chlorine gas exhibits characteristics of all these elements: it resembles drowning as the man feels suffocated by the gas, it burns his skin like fire, and inhaling the gas mirrors the fatal effects caused by lime inhalation.

The text discusses the comparison of the death caused by poisonous gas to three different types of deaths, aiming to illustrate the immense agony involved in such a death. This death is depicted as neither glorious nor honorable, as the author employs vivid imagery to horrify and disgust readers, compelling them to empathize with the trauma of witnessing someone die from gas exposure. The use of lengthy words creates an impression of the prolonged suffering endured by the man. Interestingly, although this stanza is the shortest in the poem, it profoundly impacted Owens' psyche and also deeply affected other soldiers.

Owen's vivid dreams depict a haunting scene of a man gasping for air, on the brink of death. He connects these suffocating dreams to the gas that claimed the man's life, highlighting the intensity of his nightmares. The conventional notion of dying for one's country loses its honor when confronted with the distressing reality of witnessing such a harrowing demise. Despite its brutality, the soldier's death is reduced to a mere statistic, dehumanizing his existence into a mere numerical value. This further emphasizes how these soldiers are denied a dignified death, instead being disregarded as inconsequential events.

In this passage, the use of Onomatopoeia is evident as it conveys that the sounds of the words imply their meanings.

The ending of the line signifies the man's

demise, and Owen aims to prompt the readers to imagine the visual in their minds.

Owen's intention is to depict the man's death in the most gruesome manner possible, enabling the readers to experience the event again.

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --

The pause at the end of the last line implies the man's demise.

There is only one sentence in this entire stanza as indicated by the presence of only one full stop.

The poet expresses his anger towards the suffering and inhumanities of war towards the end of the poem. This anger reaches its climax at line 24, after which the poet gradually becomes more calm. Ending the poem with irony, he sarcastically refers to those who view dying for one's country as noble and honorable as "friends," although he does not truly consider them as such.

This poem offers a more intimate and relatable perspective compared to Tennysons' 'six hundred.' It encourages us to envision ourselves as participants in the battle, enabling us to witness the true realities of war.

The Charge of the Light Brigade serves as a war endorsement and morale booster for people, while 'Dulce et Decorum Est' presents a truthful and graphic depiction of the realities of battle - shedding light on how soldiers are truly treated and questioning the nobility of dying for one's country.

The poems featured in this text are set in two different wars, with each poem providing distinct details. In "The Charge of the Light Brigade," the soldiers are commended and their deaths in battle are honored. Conversely, "Dulce et Decorum Est" challenges this notion by arguing that

it is not honorable or noble to die for one's country. The poem emphasizes that individuals are reduced to mere statistics and numbers rather than being recognized as human beings. Tennyson's poem romanticizes the concept of war but lacks specific details, primarily focusing on the six hundred soldiers without delving into the specifics of their deaths.

However, Wilfred Owen's poem has a greater sense of reality as it explores the death of a single soldier, illustrating how the other soldiers had to grapple with this loss. Unlike the other poem, Owen's work conveys a sensitive and personal touch, emphasizing the significance of one individual's death rather than a more generalized account of 600 casualties.

Despite being about the Battle of Balaclava, Tennyson's poem does not provide any detail about the battle itself.

Society had a similar perspective on war as depicted in Tennyson's poem. They were unaware of the harsh realities and the brutality endured by soldiers in the war.

Owen's feelings were shaped by the atrocities he witnessed during the war. He resented individuals who lacked understanding about the war, yet claimed it was noble to die for their country. To him, such notions were merely a facade of propaganda.

In my opinion, Wilfred Owen's poem provides a more authentic depiction of war and offers a clearer understanding of its realities. Unlike Tennyson's poem, which glamorizes war and aims to uplift the spirits of soldiers and civilians alike, Owen's poem exhibits a greater sense of honesty. Tennyson's poem lacks in-depth description and merely reflects societal perspectives.