Task: Compare and contrast the poem " The Charge Of The Light Brigade" by Lord Tennyson and "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. Which one do you think is the most affective and convincing depiction of the experience of war?.
The two poems Lord Tennysons "The Charge Of The Light Brigade" and Wilfred Owens "Dulce Et Decorum Est" are two poems that capture the experience of war. But that's the only similarities. Lord Tennyson, writing from england about the the battle of Balaclava (Britain v's Russia in 1854), Tennyson's poem celebrates the glory of war and heroism despite the fact that, because of an error of judgment, six hundred soldiers were sent to their deaths .
According to my research Owen's poem might of almost have been written as a challenge to Tennyson's rousing and heroic sentiments. He presents the horror of senseless death in trenches and shows us that the famous line "it is sweet and becoming to die for your country", is a lie.
WI have researched that Tennyson wrote 'Light Brigade? in a few minutes after reading the description in The Times of the Battle of Balaclava in 1854. He was a civilian poet, as opposed to a soldier poet like Owen. His poem 'Charge of the Light Brigade? increased the morale of the British soldiers fighting in the Crimean War and of the people at home, but Tennyson had not been an eyewitness to the battle he describes.
Wilfred Owen wrote 'Dulce est Decorum est? towards the end of the First World War. He was killed in action a week before the war ended in 1918. He wanted to end the glorification of war. Owen was against the propaganda and lies that were being told at the time. He had firsthand experience of war and wanted to tell people back at home the truth. Owen was an officer and often had to send men to their deaths and 'Dulce? gives a personal account of what the war was like. Many patriotic poems had been written at the time. Owen knew that they lied.