The Charge of the Light and Dulce Et Decorum Est
The Charge of the Light and Dulce Et Decorum EstDeath-An Inevitable Part of Life
“In the midst of life we are in death,” these famous
words spoken anonymously have held true throughout time.
Death is an inevitable part of life, and without each other
would fail to exist. Throughout history, poets and authors
have tried to capture death and its sting and glory through
literature. They have also tried to explain what happens
beyond death. Death, like a coin, has two sides, a fearful,
painful, and dark side and a beautiful, glorious, triumphant
side. In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “ The Charge of the Light
Brigade” and in Wifred Owens “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, death
is discussed through a poetic manner. Both poems portray
death in extreme ways and both were written in times of war.
In Tennyson’s, “The Charge of the Light Brigade, death is
depicted gloriously. While in Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum
Est,” it is characterized in a cynical and demeaning manner
and in Emily Dickinson’s, “Because I Could Not Stop For
Death”, she tries to provide an explanation of life after
death. Although the feeling of death cannot be described in
entirety and the place to which one travels after death is
unknown, the emotions felt about death can easily be
expressed. Through their poetry, these poets give us a clear
representation of their opinion on death.
In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light
Brigade” he is attempting to glorify death through poetry.
As the poem opens, we are given the powerful words “Half a
league, half a league, half a league onward”(459). This is
the charge from the captain telling the soldiers to charge
into battle. The order from the captain is revered and the
men are inspired to enter the “valley of Death.” In the
second stanza we see the brigade falling short of
expectations, forcing the men to continue even though
someone had blundered. The beginning of this poem is light
and there is much excitement. However, the mode changes
with stanza three and four. In those verses, we begin to
see cannons and hear shots, and then the six hundred did not
ride away. As we are presented with their death we are
asked a simple question by the author. “When can their
glory fade?”(Tennyson 459). According to the poem and the
writing of Alfred Lord Tennyson, we cannot forget their
glory: it does not diminish. Through his use of language in
“The Charge of the Light Brigade,” we feel honor in the
deaths of the young men. “While horse and hero fell. They
that fought so well,”(459) Tennyson praises the men who so
bravely charged forward into the unknown and lost their
lives. He asks us to “Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six
hundred.” In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem death is portrayed
as noble and killing opposing men is honorable.
Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is a poem that
describes death gruesomely. Owen portrays war and death
opposite from Tennyson. He believes war is not honorable
nor noble. In the poem, he describes soldiers as old
“beggars under sacks” (Owen 256). He characterizes the
soldiers as walking zombies that had lost their boots and
along with those, their will to live. Owen also describes
the death scene ghastly. He uses imagery to depict the
soldiers “floundering like a man in fire or lime”(256). He
describes the wagon coming for the dead and how gory the
death actually was. The last line is sarcastically
stating…It is sweet and honorable to die for one’s
country(256). Through this poem he is stating that it is
not virtuous to die innocently.
In Emily Dickinson’s,” Because I Could Not Stop For
Death” it appears that she is supporting life after death.
In this piece, we are being told the tale of a woman who is
being taken away by Death. This is the first indication
that this poem believes in an afterlife. In most religions,
where there is a grim reaper like specter, this entity will
deliver a person’s soul to another place, usually to a
heaven or a hell. In the fifth stanza, Death and the woman
pause before …a House that seemed like A Swelling of the
Ground- The Roof was scarcely visible- The Cornice in the
Ground-” (Dickinson 439). Although the poem does not
directly say it, it is highly probable that this grave is
the woman’s own. It is also possible the woman’s body
already rests beneath the soil in a casket. If this is at
all accurate, then her spirit or soul may be the one who is
looking at the “house”(439). Spirits and souls usually
insinuate that there is an afterlife involved. It isn’t
until the sixth and final stanza where the audience obtains
conclusive evidence that Emily Dickinson is suggesting an
afterlife is possible in this poem. The woman recalls how
it has been “…Centuries- and yet feels shorter than the
Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads were toward Eternity-
(Dickinson 439). It has been a few hundred years since
Death visited the woman, but to her, it has felt like less
than 24 hours. Since the body cannot live on for hundreds
of years, then it must be none other then the soul who has
come to the realization that so much time has passed. The
final part with the horses refers to the horse drawn
carriage the woman was riding in when she passed away. In
those two final lines, the horses seem to be leading her
into Eternity, possibly into an afterlife.
In these three different poems we are given three
contrasted viewpoints on the unavoidable part of living. In
Tennyson’s poem, death is praised and honored. While in
Owen’s poem, death is sarcastically put down and considered
“noble”. And in Emily Dickinson’s poem about death, she is
approaching dying with an afterlife, a beyond. All poems
provide us with theory of death and all three are correct.
Death is a emotion that is not easily described, but is
considered in poetry recurrently.
Works Cited
L. Bensel-Meyers. Literary Culture: Reading and Writing
Literary Arguments. New York: Pearson Custom P,2000.
J. Paul Hunter, ed. The Norton Introduction to Poetry.
Third ed. New York: Norton & Company, 1973.