Literary works of the Romantic Era, reaching its peak in the 1800-1850, reveal that artists of that generation renewed a sense of nationalism and voiced their concerns on issues of national importance. In addition, writers of that generation made several clarion calls for patriotism. In Britain, for instance, Alfred Lord Tennyson led the pack in immortalizing heroes of war and calling on the people to honor the heroic deeds of their soldiers. Tennyson’s poems coincided with the Victorian Era - a period associated with national self-confidence in Britain. A cursory look at Alfred Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “The Revenge” reveals that the speaker honors the soldiers that took part in the Battle of Balaclava and the Battle of Flores respectively; however, the two poems differ in their structure and the choice of literary devices.
In both “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “The Revenge”, Alfred Tennyson paints the picture of war heroes who would not relent to their enemies. For instance, in “The Revenge,” Lord Thomas Howard, one of the officers manning the ship, replies to the commander of Revenge “’Fore God I am no coward” (The Revenge 4). This occurs despite the fact that they face fifty-three warships of the rival army. These words prove that the officers are ready to fight tooth and nail for the honor of their country. They would rather die fighting than surrender to the enemy who outnumbers them. The same theme of courage and honor is also evident in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” where the speaker says “Half a league, half a league, half a league onwards.all in the valley of death rode the six hundred.” (The Charge of the light Brigade 1-2). Despite the fact that the soldiers are entering a dangerous valley, they ride gallantly to meet the rival army.
Both “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “The Revenge” also present the theme of nationalism. In both poems, the soldiers are self-confident of Britain’s nationality and they do anything to preserve the dignity and honor of Britain. In “the Revenge”, for instance, Sir Richard says “We be all good English men. Lets us bang these dogs of Seville, the children of the devil, For I never turned back upon Don or devil yet” (29-31). In this statement, Sir Richard, is proud of his mother country and urges his men to fight the Spaniards. In “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” the soldiers do not question the words of their commander. They charge forward knowing that death awaits them. Nevertheless, they obey the command and execute the words of the commander without any reservations. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Was there a man dismay’d? Not tho’ the soldier knew someone had blunder’d: theirs was but to do and die” (Stanza 2 lines 1-3). This statement reveals that the soldiers are ready to lay their lives bare all in the name executing their national duties. It is little wonder, therefore, that the poet calls them the “noble six hundred.”
Despite having similar themes, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “The Revenge” use different structures and literary devices. For example, “The Revenge” is relatively long (135 lines and 13 stanzas) compared to “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (that has 54 lines and six stanzas). In addition, “The Charge to the Light Brigade” contains relatively uniform number lines of lines (6-11) in every stanza, which is unlike the structure in “The Revenge” where the number of lines in every stanza varies greatly (5-21). Moreover, “The Revenge” contains relatively equal number of syllables (10-14) in each line compared to the irregular number of syllables contained in “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”
Apart from the different structure of both poems, they (the poems) also differ in the use of literary devices. For example, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” overuses anaphora, while its use in “The Revenge” is moderate. Anaphora is a literary device that involves the repetition of the same words or phrases in every line thus creating parallelism. In “The Charge of the Light Brigade” the phrase “half a league” is repeated in the first and the second lines. The phrase “theirs is not to” is also repeated three times in the second stanza (lines 6-7). Further use of anaphora is also evident in stanza three (lines 1-3), where the phrase “cannon to the” is used. On the contrary, the use of anaphora in “The Revenge” is moderate; only single words and, in rare occasions, simple phrases are used. For example, the word “and” is successively repeated in three lines of the last stanza. Apart from that incident, the use of the anaphora is evident in stanza 9(lines 3-6) where the phrase “after the warship” is used.
Perhaps, the intense use of anaphora in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is intentional. It puts emphasis on certain words, and makes it easy for the reader to follow through the poem. This is unlike the poem “The Revenge” where the speaker uses a relatively complex language. The complex language in “The Revenge” could partly be as a result of literary devices used in that poem. For example, the use of anastrophe is evident in “The Revenge” but lacking in “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” For example, in stanza 1, the speaker says “In the Flores at the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay.” The use of anastrophe is also evident in stanza 9 (line 8) where the speaker says “But in perilous plight we were.” Unlike in “The Revenge” the use of anastrophe in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is lacking. Nevertheless, the two poems also share the use of some literary devices.
For instance, there is use of imagery in both poems. For example, in “The Revenge,” the speaker says “and a pinnace like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away” (2). The description given by the narrator creates a mental picture of a light boat appearing very fast without notice. Another vivid imagery is also created when the narrator says “And while now the great San Philip hung above like a cloud whence the thunderbolt will fallfour galleons drew away from the Spanish fleet that day” ( The picture created in the reader’s mind is that of a tiny ship surrounded by four giant warships that are ready to battle (43-48). The use of imagery in this case helps the reader understand the great battle that lay ahead of the Britons. The use of imagery is also rampant in “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” For example, the narrator states “Half a league onward, All in the Valley of Death Rode the six hundred” (1-3). The picture created in the reader’s mind is that of a many soldiers riding their horses as they march towards the valley. The command “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” also creates the picture of a commanding officer whose command could not be disobeyed.
Alfred Tennyson’s “The Revenge” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade” share the themes of nationalism and honor. In both poems, the narrator exalts the soldiers for their heroic courage to face their enemies, even when outnumbered and outmaneuvered. It is for this reason that the poet calls the soldiers “the noble six hundred” for their courage to fight for the honor of Britain. The two poems, however, employ different structures and literary devices. For example, the use of anaphora is more in “The charge of the Light Brigade” compared to the anaphora used in “The Revenge.” Conversely, “The Revenge” employs anastrophe, which is lacking in “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” Nevertheless, both poems use imagery to draw the attention of the readers.
Works Cited
Mazzeno, Laurence W. Alfred Tennyson: The Critical Legacy. Columbia, SC : Camden
House, 2004. Print.
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. The Charge of the Light Brigade. 1 November 2013
<http://poetry.eserver.org/light-brigade.html>.
—. The Revenge. 1 November 2013 <https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~ben/revenge.htm>.
