War Poerty, The Charge Of The Light Brigade, The Soldier, Dulce et Decorum Est

“Imagine there’s no countries,
It isn’t hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for,
No Religion too,
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…”
These are the lyrics to a famous song by Ex-Beatle, John Lennon. In the song he speaks about his view on war, and how he would like the world to be.
We have studied many pieces of poetry where the poets have put across their views on war, some pro-war, some anti-war. These were written at different stages throughout different wars, but mostly World War I. We can see some connections in poets’ styles and also in their attitudes towards war.

The earliest piece of poetry that we studied dates back to 1854. “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” by Alfred Tennyson.
This poem, which is about the Crimean war, has a great rhythm to it. Tennyson makes the rhythm represent the galloping of horses as you read it.
The opening lines of this poem are:
“Half a league, half a league,
...