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Dulce Et Decorum Est And The Charge Of The Light Brigade

Decent Essays

Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson are two poems that evaluate and analyze war. Many people who have served in war turn to literature as an outlet for their experiences, but people who have never fought often write about it as well. These two poems are a great example of the differences in connotations of war due to level of interaction with it. However, despite distinct variations in attitudes and messages, the use of figurative language and the theme of war provide similarities among the two.
The overall tones of the poems draw one of the most distinct contrasts between the works. Owen describes the soldiers as “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we curse through sludge,” which insinuates that the men were like sickly and homeless people (Lines 1-3). Whereas Tennyson uses phrases like “Boldly they rode,” “honor the charge they made,” and “hero” to give the perception that men were courageous and honorable souls (Lines 23, 51, & 42). The actions of the war are also described in different ways making the physical engagement in battle seem sad in one regard, but noble in another. In Dulce Et Decorum Est a war flashback feels like “choking, drowning” and trekking through the jungle, “men marched asleep” and “limped on” (Lines 15, 5, & 6). But, in The Charge of the Light Brigade the march of the soldiers is pompously described by the phrases, “Half a league, half a league, half a

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