Since the beginning of human civilization, humanity has found itself in the midst of wars. For many people, war can be a controversial topic, with everyone having their own beliefs on it. Most can agree that there are positive and negative aspects of the war, but few like to make their opinions clear to the public. In the world of literature, writers often express their feelings and ideas of war in their writings. Two authors that strongly made their opinions clear to their readers are Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and Wilfred Owen in his first hand account of war, "Dulce Et Decorum Est".
In his poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade", Alfred Lord Tennyson brings a glorifying light to the war and the soldiers fighting it. To convey his opinion of war, he uses imagery with positive connotations to make the British soldiers appear brave and strong as they ride into battle. Readers experience this imagery when he is describing the British charge against the Russian army and writes that they "Flash'd all their sabres bare" (Line 27) or "Came thro' the jaws of Death" (Line 46). Using words such as 'Flash'd" and "Sabres" gives the reader an image of valiant soldiers unsheathing their swords as they charge against the enemy, ready to engage in close hand-to-hand combat. When the author writes that after the battle the soldiers come "thro' the jaws of Death", he is painting a picture of men riding back from fighting death itself, which greatly contributes to his idea that soldiers are incredibly brave, and glorifies the war. Another method that Tennyson uses to portray his opinion of war is in the diction that he uses. When he is writing about the Russian soldiers' deaths, he says that they "reel'd from the saber stroke" (Line 35) and "shatter'd and sunder'd" (Line 36), which are words of strong defeat.