Comparing Dulce Et Decorum Est The Charge

Comparing Dulce Et Decorum Est, The Charge Of The Essay, Research Paper

Choose three poems and Show how the Poets Attempt to Either Contribute to,Or Destroy the Myth of Heroism Widely Upheld in Britain during the Crimean war and the Great War By Kevin Baldwin 11R War between nations’ stirs up immense patriotism between the different nationalities. Soldiers are often commended for bravery, nurses are commended for their aid, and without war, the world would be a totally different place. The Great War and the Crimean war were of no exception to this. However, as with all wars one casualty is eventually truth. Propaganda portrayed war as being glorious; it was patriotic to die for your country. Propaganda encouraged people to fight, and die, for their country. People wanted to believe in the myth of heroism, but censorship prevented the public from finding out the truth. The Crimean war of 1853 to 1856 is remembered because of the heroic soldiers of the ‘Light Brigade’. Lord Tennyson was in favour of the myth of war, and his poetry reflects this. The myth of heroism peaked in Britain when she was an Empire. It was an honour to die in warfare for such a glorious nation, and on the eve of the First World war, thousands of Britons signed up to the army expecting the war to be over by the Christmas of 1914, and to return home as heroes. World War one wasn’t over by 1914. It carried on for four years in the inhumane and intolerable trenches. Men could drown in the mud, and rats gorged on the dead bodies in no-man’s land. Soldiers such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon used poetry as an emotional outlet. Some of the most compelling poems in history were written at these times, and the dramas within them informed people of the truth. Lord Tennyson was never involved in direct warfare during the Crimean war. He was an onlooker and never experienced the horror of facing cannon fire. This was unlike the soldiers who perished. During the Crimean war, Britain was an Empire, one of the strongest nations on earth. To be a member of the world’s elite army would have been a privilege. The army was still divided into classes; Lords and Barons made the highest ranks, whilst the lower classes were the ordinary soldiers. Britain eventually won the Crimean war, but the Battle of Balaclava which is where the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ occurred, was fought under anarchic conditions. Lack of communication between the soldiers and their peers led to the heroic, but catastrophic charge. The ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson that concentrates on the tenacity of the soldiers. No mention is made of administrative errors. Lord Tennyson makes good use of repetition throughout the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’. The first two lines in the opening stanza make good use of this technique. ‘Half a league, half a league, half a league onward’ was the distance the Light Brigade had to travel whilst under heavy fire. If the words are spoken appropriately, they sound like the hooves of galloping horses. The third and fourth lines of the first stanza use metaphors – ‘All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred’ contrast between light and darkness. ‘Death’ takes the role of darkness. ‘Forward the light Brigade, Charge for the Guns!’ is when they are given their orders, and ‘Into the valley of Death’ is repeated to empathise the soldier’s dire situation. Repetition is used to imply that the men knew what was happening. Nobody turned back on the order ‘Forward the Light Brigade’ in the second stanza, even ‘tho the soldier knew someone had blundered’. The cavalry knew that they were going to die; the repetition and alliteration in ‘Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die’ empathises the fact that they were a tool in Britain’s war machine, but their bravery and honour kept them going forward. The metaphor ‘Into the valley of Death ‘ is used again at the end of the second stanza. This also has religious significance, as it is similar to a Psalm. This makes the reader aware that the cavalry are like biblical heroes. ‘Cannon to the right Cannon to the left Cannon in front of them’ is simple, factual language. The repetition shows the reality of the situation and the inevitability of death, therefore reinforcing the cavalry’s bravery. The reader perceives the loud, powerful and threatening noises of cannon fire. The soldiers are ’stormed at with shot and shell’. The alliteration uses strong words, but ‘Boldly they rode and well’. The cavalry were proud of their livery and rode onward ‘Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell’. These metaphors were used by Lord Tennyson to create the imagery of death. The fourth stanza is a brief account of the violent action. The cavalry draw their swords to intimidate the cannons, but this was to no avail. The Brigade was ‘Charging an army ‘ and they were hopelessly outnumbered and certain to die. The Light Brigade charged through ‘Cossack and Russian’ lines, and as they fought the cavalry showed their obedience, bravery and courage. They had battled so far, yet they had nowhere to go, so ‘ they rode back not the six hundred.’ The fifth stanza contains a lot of visual imagery and metaphors. On the way back the Light Brigade had nowhere to run or hide. There were ‘Cannon to the right Cannon to the left Cannon behind them’. The repetition of this phrase not only shows the cavalry’s position, but also enforces the fact tha