To compare The Charge of the Light Brigade with The Destruction of
Sennacherib
In this essay we are going to be comparing two war poems. They are
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
and ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ by Lord Byron (1788-1824).
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is set in the Crimean war. It is
about the British cavalry getting the wrong orders and going straight
at the enemy’s cannons. ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ is a biblical
story. The story tells us about a whole army being wiped out really
quickly as they slept by the ‘Angel of Death’.
The first poem we are going to look at is ‘The Charge of the Light
Brigade’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). In this poem Tennyson
describes the valley that the cavalry had to gallop along as ‘The
Valley of Death’. This makes you think that as they go along the
valley the soldiers will die. He describes the soldiers as heroic and
he admires their courage because the soldiers did not question their
orders even though they were likely to be killed. To emphasise this
...
The first poem in the collection, before section one, is entitled, The Weather in Space (pg. 3). This is a short poem with seven lines and spaces between each line.
The timeline carries on chronologically, the intense imagery exaggerated to allow the poem to mimic childlike mannerisms. This, subjectively, lets the reader experience the adventure through the young speaker’s eyes. The personification of “sunset”, (5) “shutters”, (8) “shadows”, (19) and “lamplights” (10) makes the world appear alive and allows nothing to be a passing detail, very akin to a child’s imagination. The sunset, alive as it may seem, ordinarily depicts a euphemism for death, similar to the image of the “shutters closing like the eyelids”
The Union forces suffered one their most significant defeats of the Civil War at the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. The Union army was pushing towards Richmond, Virginia when they were met with a Confederate defensive stand while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River and the subsequent charges towards the Confederate positions. The first three steps of the Battle Analysis process will be covered briefly in this analysis along with an assessment of the significant actions taken. The Union Army was rendered ineffective due to several flaws in the leadership. Poor utilization of available intelligence methods, poor communication between leaders, minimal terrain analysis, and failure to plan for enemy courses of action all contributed greatly to the Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Strand, Mark and Evan Boland. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New
Allison, Barrows, Blake, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry . 3rd Shorter ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 211.
Links from the poem below are best read in order from the beginning of the poem to the end
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.
Meinke, Peter. “Untitled” Poetry: An Introduction. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s 2010. 89. Print
For this assignment, I have decided to write about a famous poem of Billy Collins which is titled as ‘Introduction to Poetry’ written in 1996.
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.
The links from the poem below are best read in order from the beginning of the poem to the end.
Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
You must analyse at least six poems, ensuring you include at least one pre-1914 poem.
Ellmann, Richard and Robert O’Clair. Modern Poems. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1989.
a more personal level. However, it is only one's past, present and the attitude with which he or she looks upon the future that determines the shade of light in which the poem will be seen. (pg 621)