These two opposite quotes depict the two very different views on war. Many think of it as a glorious way to die. 'To die for ones country' is supposedly heroic. Many of the people who say this however, have never actually experienced war, and have a very vague outlook on how it really is. The two poems to be discussed are very different, and each takes a strong opinion on what war is like.

The first, and earlier poem: 'The charge of the light brigade', by Lord Alfred Tennyson, talks more about the glory of war. It looks at war as a sort of game; like toy soldiers, perhaps. Tennyson based this famous poem on the Battle of the Balaklava, fought on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War, in which a small force of British cavalry made a daring but dangerous assault against a Russian artillery line, due to a misunderstood order. The British cavalry commander wanted to retake some guns held by the Russians, instead he told his men to charge the main Russian opposition. After the attack, only 195 of the 673 men in the Light Brigade returned. This poem was one of the most popular poems of the Victorian period. One critic said: 'The poem has become

The second line begins with alliteration; the phrase knock-kneed refers to what the soldiers have been reduced to. It then goes on to say they were coughing like hags. This implying that the soldiers had, in a way, been emasculated during battle and had been reduced to what seemed like old women that have no strength.

Verse five is the basically the same as verse three, but is telling us that they are not going in but are coming back out of Death. The cannons are not in front of them but behind them. The poem is no longer talking about how they boldly rode into Death, but is now talking about how they are slowly being picked of a being killed. This is shown in line six, where it says how the horse and hero fell. This once again tells us about what view the poet has on war. He is telling us that the men who have come out and survived are heroes, but does not mention from then on about all the men ho have given their lives.

The second line of the paragraph emphasises how the men were tired, and because of this, where they were going seemed like a long way off. The words 'trudge' and 'distant rest' makes you feel as if the men will never get to where they want to go, and that it is just one endless struggle.

The next line comprises of a rhetorical question that tells us how the soldiers weren't aware of what they were about to do in terms of losing their life.

This poem written in the dactylic meter uses a lot of good language techniques, such as personification and repetition. The use of metaphors also helps to get his opinion across. It is written in the dactylic meter to emphasise the galloping of the horses, this tends to make the poem a lot more comprehensible.

The first three lines give the placement of the cannons, one line after the other using repetition giving the feeling of being enclosed and surrounded. It also emphasises how they would have got a chlostrophobic feeling because there was no way out.

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Approximate Word count = 3733
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)