Compare and Contrast Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade and Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est

In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war.

The themes of the two poems are portrayed in very distinctive ways. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ explains in a majestic approach, that fighting in war is something every soldier should honour. The poem is also about the loyalty of the soldiers, not the bad luck or foolishness of men. Tennyson presents this in his poem to show the bravery of the soldiers, although, he only highlights on the benefits of war.

Honour the charge they made, (‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, line 51, Tennyson).

This quote suggests that Tennyson’s poem glorifies the war, celebrating the sacrifice they had made for their country. By glorifying the Brigade, Tennyson has ignored the obscurity and massacre of the war; this is shown by the loyalty that the soldiers have for their country. The commitment of war in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is only shown because Tennyson's looking at war from afar .We can see this because in the poem he has not used descriptive language to describe what war was like, and has not shown the real outcome of war.

In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ gives us the complete opposite. It takes away the lie that describes the war as a place of pleasure and vividness. When in reality it is a...

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The men are not literally ‘old beggars’ it is only said to add effect. Similes are used effectively because the reader gets an accurate picture of what Owen had experienced. This is the same procedure as Tennyson uses, but of course Tennyson’s were not effective because he was not an eyewitness. Owen attempts to involve the reader as much as possible and uses the words ‘I’ and ‘we’ to remind the reader that he was there.

To conclude this essay we have acknowledged that ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ are contrastable. However, in some points they are compatible as both involve war. Even though they mention war, it is shown in different ways. As ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ glorifies soldiers and the war, whereas, ‘Dulce Et decorum Est’ points out that war are not as heroic as it seems but instead is a horrifying brutal affair.