A Comparison of The Patriot by Robert Browning and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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A Comparison of The Patriot by Robert Browning and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson

'The Patriot' by Robert Browning and ' The Charge of the Light

Brigade' by Alfred Lord Tennyson both illustrate two individual views

on the Crimean war. 'The Patriot' is written in the first person using

"I" which portrays the poem as more personal. It is written in the

past tense and recalls the speakers' view of the war, whereas 'The

Charge of the Light Brigade' is written in the third person but also

in the past tense. Both poems take us the reader from the events

during the war to after the war and both poets try and convey their

feelings and emotions concerning the war.

Robert Browning, through his poem, suggests that he was "burgled" in

the metaphorical sense. During the war he was viewed and treated as a

hero and patriot. "Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun". He fought

the war for his country "To give it my loving friends to keep",

keeping it safe and protecting it for his friends and people of his

country. During that time war was glorified and men who went to fight

for "Queen and country" were greatly respected heroes and thought

highly of and the men who fed these images of how they would be viewed

as heroes through propaganda.

The increasing positive tone in the first two stanzas reflects this,

and shows that the speaker enjoyed being viewed as this.

Alfred Lord Tennyson also appears to explore the theme of patriotism

and the idea of men fighting heroically in his poem. He portrays the

'Charge of the Light Brigade' as brave, using words like "onward",

"forward" and "charge" to display this. This suggests the men were

continually battling on against "the valley of death". By using such

exaggerated terms to express war, the poem is able to demonstrate how

brave the men actually were. Alfred Lord Tennyson repeatedly uses

heightened language and by using this technique he effectively gets

his point across to the reader.

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