Compare and contrast the attitudes to war in ‘Charge of the light Brigade’ and ‘After Blenheim’
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘After Blenheim’ are both about the same subject, war.’ The Charge of the light brigade’ is about a brutal event where many lives were lost and lots of bloody battle. Tennyson has changed the image of horror and destruction that flashes into our minds when we think about war, instead, he has put a positive and thrilling thought of war in our imagination by making it glorious. ‘After Blenheim’ takes a different stance on war, instead from a Child’s understanding of the war. Southey on the other hand has kept that negative image which is brought along with war, with use of heroic language.
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a poem full of history and remembrance. War had broken out in 1845 between Britain, France and Russia. During this battle an unfortunate and unforgivable mistake was made by a young British cavalry commander misheard his orders to retake some guns held by the Russians. Instead he made the simple mistake of telling his men to charge the Russian death trap. No big deal was made of it by the brave men who bravely rode to their deaths with only one third of their force returning. The charge is remembered as a key example of the pure futility of war.
Alfred Lord Tennyson thinks of war as something magnificent. He knows that war is dreadful because of the loss of life, but he changes this by making it a great deal more positive and hopeful. Tennyson describes war using heroic language.
Tennyson has written the poem in a way that, he describes the brutality and horror of war but all at the same time he is making it glorious. The use of repetition is often used throughout the poem. On the first verse the last line said ‘rode the six hundred’ and on the second and third verse as well. On the fourth verse it said ‘not the six hundred’ and fifth ‘all that was left of them, the six hundred’ Then the last verse a very...