The world can be changed by the things that create and hurt it. With words they can create sentences, and sentences create stories. These stories can tear relationships apart or bring people together. The famous poem, “The Battle of Balaclava”, affected our perspective with its imagistic honorable, and enduring language.
Tennyson describes the horror of war with imagistic lines throughout the poem. One example is in line 46, [the soldiers] came thro’ the jaws of Death / Back from the mouth of Hell.” This line depicts the British soldiers entering a battle they couldn’t win. It compares the battlefield to the jaws of death or the mouth of hell. The poem gives us what the soldiers felt during the battle. The poem’s short lines represent quick sounds or movement, similar to gunfire. It mimics the feeling and sound of the battlefield, whereas the article describes the battlefield.
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Both writings capture the heroic and honorable actions of the British Light brigade.
However, the poem shows the bravery and actions of the soldiers. The author wanted to honor the light brigade, which is why he wrote the poem. For instance, Tennyson repeats the line, “Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.” (7), to show the bravery of the soldiers. Those six hundred men charged into battle willingly, even though the enemy surrounded the British. The soldiers fought with all their strength, “While horse and hero fell / They that had fought so well.” (44). The light brigade knew that they couldn’t win, yet they didn’t retreat. They charged head on. It is no wonder that both authors favored the
British. Because of their heroic actions, people still remember the Battle of Balaclava. Many people who lived during the same time period can recited parts of the poem by heart. "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die." Decades after this poem was written, this poem is still taught in schools everywhere. Tennyson purposefully wrote this as a poem to help people remember the light brigade. For example on line 53 “Honor the charge they made! / Honor the Light Brigade...” (53) Honor is repeated to remind us of the courageous charge of the Light Brigade. Poems are more memorable because of their rhythm and rhyme scheme. While articles are much harder to remember. Tennyson asks the reader, on the last stanza, a rhetorical question, “When can their glory fade?” and the reader knows that the british will never be forgotten. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” represents the honorability of the fallen soldiers through Tennyson’s enduring and imagistic words. Opposers may say that there is nothing honorability in one person’s mistake, that causes the death of 600, and it most definitely shows the horrors of war. But, once the soldiers realizes the mistake, they don’t retreat. They fight head on. Sure it captures the terror of bloodshed, but it also made the british proud, it brought a sense of patriotism. Which was why the poem was written. Not only was it written to honor the light brigade, but also it was to motivate people into fighting, for what they loved.
The modern world is full of social issues and people use all different kinds of way to express the way that they feel and how they see things. Bruce Dawe uses his poem ‘War Without End’ and Christopher Mann with his poem ‘Country Matters’ to convey important messages.
In this essay I am going to compare and contrast the differences between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is written by Poet Lauriat Lord Tennyson and ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ is written by Lord Byron. They both contain different poetic techniques and write about a battle in completely different ways.
Many war pieces express a distinct sense of truth, hatred, and anger that can be found in the style, tone, and imagery they possess. Incredible images are created in ones mind as war writings are read and heard. Works written by such writers as Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Tim OBrien really reach out to the audience by way of the authors choice of words and images that they use in their writing. These talented writers create very touching and heart-felt images as they write about the true occurrences, problems, feelings and emotions that soldiers encountered throughout times of war. It is by way of these writers words that the bloody truth of war is heard, rather than the glorified victories heard which overlook the pain that soldiers went through.
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.
Poetry is defined by William Faulkner as “some moving, passionate moment of the human condition distilled to its absolute essence” (Ford, 527). Many literary pieces look at human nature and how human’s reaction during those situations, so while the environment may change the human part does not. When we really look underneath a stories surroundings and exam the underlying human pieces they are the same in literary pieces written years ago compared to human kind today. The “Narrative Legerdemain: Evoking Sarty’s Future in ‘Barn Burning’” discusses the human internal battle of good versus evil (Ford, 528). “Tennessee Williams and the Two Streetcars” by Daniel Thomieres describes the human battle of wanting to live life to its fullest, but also staying within the limitations set by society. “’Don’t Turn Back’: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr.” by W. Jason Miller examines how Langston Hughes poem can be used to motivate people to keep “climbing.”
War and its ramifications for those who are unfortunately entangled in it, is an issue that has fueled both political discussion and literary exploration throughout the previous century. Underived, authentic accounts of the experience and effects of war, from those who have served in it, can be especially enlightening for the majority of society who have had the fortune of not being intimately familiar with war. Through the examination of poems and stories written by soldiers, who were inspired by their involvement in conflict, one can obtain a greater understanding of this gruesome aspect of life, without having to directly experience it. Similarly, soldier turned poet, Bruce Weigl, has contributed his perspective on war through his literary
Lord Tennyson celebrates the glory of his six hundred brave soldiers who went into battle knowing they would be dead once the war was over. The first verse starts of in action as the chief officer, sends an order for all soldiers to
By starting the charge at the beginning of the poem, Tennyson has instantly caught the reader's attention whilst still providing the relevant information for the poem to tell the story of what happened. Tennyson glorifies the soldiers greatly by using strong dramatic language and graphic images that can be vividly formed in the reader's minds. "All in the valley of Death, rode the six hundred. " The dramatic language here makes it seem like just the unusually small amount of horsemen used in such a charge would be charging at hell itself. Tennyson continues to glorify the bravery of the soldiers throughout the whole poem, 'Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of death', yet the emphasis that he uses on death makes the charge seem futile and that the men are charging towards their own deaths.
As poet laureate and patriot, Alfred, Lord Tennyson was very influential in 19th century England. He successfully showed the ignorance of the English Army leaders while still reflecting his strong nationalist views in an attempt to create propaganda for the Crimean War in his poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” The charge was a tragic incident that took place in 1854 during the Crimean War, which was England, France and Sardinia against Russia, when English Army generals blundered and sent over six hundred soldiers on a charge that was destined for disaster. The solders were known as the Light Brigade and the charge resulted in over two hundred deaths to soldiers and over three hundred deaths to horses. In this horrific aftermath, Tennyson responded to this event by writing a poem which went on to become a classic. Tennyson was a strong nationalist and very political. He was moved and troubled when he received news of the tragic charge. The poem became a form of propaganda for the Crimean War due to Tennyson glorifying the sacrifice of the soldiers by using his exceptional writing skills. Although this poem is regarded by many as propaganda, he included the word blunder in the poem which showed the ignorance of the Army leaders.
Alfred Lord Tennyson, an English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry, wrote “Charge of the light Brigade,” a poem to commemorate a battle bravely fought by the British troops in the Crimean War. In this poem, Tennyson expresses the deep emotions he felt after reading a newspaper in which there was an account of the Battle of Balaclava, a battle that the British lost. This poem presents a theme of courage and honor, as we can see from the author’s use of detail, diction, and imagery.
In conclusion I personally find Kipling's poem more effective. I find this because although Tennyson tries to make people feel a sense of national pride, the battle took place because of an error, and they the English people were massacred. They were brave because they knew they were committing suicide, but they went anyway. This makes them very brave, and quite foolish, but not heroes. On the other hand, Kipling is angry, and disgusted with the English people's fake loyalty because they only needed the soldier when they were fighting, now the battle is over they are just get in the way.
A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or her) with inspiring teachings, frightening thoughts, and playful games with the language. These people are true writers…
The tone is bitter and intense in a realistic way. It is achieved by the vivid and gruesome images in the poem. Wilfred Owen 's use of imagery in this poem is by depicting emotional, nightmarish, and vivid words to capture the haunting encounters of WWI that soldiers went through. In the first stanza, Owen depicts his fellow soldiers struggling through the battlefield, but their terrible health conditions prevent them from their strong actions in the war. When Owen says, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags” (lines 1-2). This provides the readers with an unexpected view and appearance of soldiers, as they usually picture as strong, noble, and brawny-looking men. Soldiers sacrifice themselves to fight for their country and are exhausted from their unhealthy lifestyle. In lines 7-8, “Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind,” they have lost the facade of humanity and their bodies are all wearied and weak on their march. This reveals a glimpse at the soldiers’ actions, as well as inferring to a psychological effect of the war. Then in line 5, “Men marched asleep,” the author is making abnormality to be one of the major purposes of the war, that it
This type of writing interests me because it was used as a tool to open people’s eyes to the brutality of war. In a way it protested and spoke up against this injustice and most importantly gave a voice to the people who became the biggest victims of war – the soldiers themselves.
The poem comprises three stanzas which are patterned in two halves; the rule of three is ingeniously used throughout the poem to create tension and show the progression of the soldiers’ lives. There is a variety of rhyming schemes used – possibly Duffy considered using caesural rhyme, internal rhyme and irregular rhyme to better address the elegiac reality. The rhythm is very powerful and shows Duffy’s technical adroitness. It is slightly disconcerting, and adds to the other worldly ambience of the poem. Duffy uses a powerful comparative in each stanza to exemplify the monstrosity and extent of war, which is much worse than we imagine; it develops throughout each stanza, starting with a syntactical ‘No; worse.’ to ‘worse by far’ and ending on ‘much worse’. Similarly, the verbs used to describe the soldier’s shadow as he falls shows the reader the journey of the shadow, as if it’s the trajectory of soldiers’ lives. At first, the shadow is as an act...