Pre 1914 Poetry Comparison: Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge Of The :: English Literature

Pre 1914 numbers Comparison Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge Of The inflame group, and Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est1) The Charge Of The fall BrigadeTennyson was prompted to write this poem after reading an article inthe Times newspaper about the charge of the Light Brigade. Tennysonsmain precedent for writing this poem seems to be to celebrate the braveryof the troops.Tennyson appears to be a patriot. He concentrates on the brave way thesoldiers went into near certain terminal and only makes one mention ofthe complete cock-up made by the generals. preferably than concentrate onthe mistakes made he sticks with celebrating what the soldiers didWhen can their glory waste? he asks. The use of the rhetorical isalmost ch whollyenging you to disagree with his confidence of the soldiersbravery.Tennyson uses a lot of things like onomatopoeia, repetition andalliteration. He uses repetition to return and show, in words, theconfusion of the battle. An example of this is waist to right ofthem, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them. He uses all ofthese things to try and create mental visualizery of the battle, to help try andimagine what the battle was like. However what he doesnt do is hedoesnt personalise he always generalises. He gives you a telecasting ofthe battle without actually giving accounts of the actions of the men.The pace of the poem is the same all the way through except for onepoint at the check of the fourth verse. For most of the poem the pace isquite fast, with a troll comparable to the clatter of horses hooves(on purpose or by accident?). besides near the end of the fourth verse,after speaking of the battle and the shambles of many men, the paceslows for about one line. Then they rode back, but not, Not the 6hundred. The pause between back and but is cleverly apply toemphasise the loss of life.An image that recurs a lot in the poem is personification of thevalley into which the Light Brigade rode into some kind of monste r, adevourer of human life. The phrases the jaws of Death and mouth ofHell are used more than once, an important piece of imagery.Alfred Lord Tennyson did not have outset hand experience of the battleand it shows in the poem. The Charge Of The Light Brigade is verygeneralised, with the word them constantly being used. No actions or flock of any specific soldier is mentioned its always soldiers ratherthan soldier.My personal reply to his poem is that it would have been better for