War & the Soldier's Experience
War Through the Soldier’s Eyes
Three poems in the Edexcel Conflict anthology examine what it feels like to be a soldier in battle. Exposure by Wilfred Owen, The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy each offer radically different perspectives on war — from the grinding misery of the trenches, to the glory and horror of a cavalry charge, to the quiet absurdity of killing a stranger. Together they show us how poets use language and structure to shape our response to conflict.
Owen’s Exposure was written from the trenches of World War I. Its central message is that the soldiers’ worst enemy is not the opposing army but the relentless, deadly cold. The refrain “But nothing happens” emphasises futility — these men suffer and die without even engaging in battle.
Exposure — Wilfred Owen (1917–18)
Owen served in the trenches and was killed one week before the Armistice. Exposure describes soldiers waiting in freezing conditions through the night. Nature — wind, snow, frost — is personified as an active attacker: “merciless iced east winds that knive us.” The verb ‘knive’ turns weather into a weapon, suggesting nature is more dangerous than any enemy soldier.
The soldiers hallucinate about home — “Slowly our ghosts drag home” — suggesting they are already psychologically dead. Owen uses rhetorical questions (“What are we doing here?”) to voice their despair. The half-rhymes throughout (“knive us … nervous,” “wire … war”) create a dissonant, unsettling sound that mirrors the soldiers’ unease.
The final stanza is devastating. Owen writes “For love of God seems dying” — faith itself is a casualty of the war. The closing image of the dead being buried with “half-known faces” dehumanises them; they are so frozen and disfigured they are barely recognisable. The repeated refrain “But nothing happens” closes the poem with crushing futility — all this suffering achieves nothing.
The Charge of the Light Brigade — Alfred Lord Tennyson (1854)
Tennyson wrote this poem in response to a newspaper report about a disastrous cavalry charge during the Crimean War. Due to a miscommunicated order, 600 British cavalrymen charged directly into Russian artillery. Tennyson both celebrates their bravery and criticises the officers’ blunder: “Someone had blundered.”
The driving dactylic rhythm (“HALF a league, HALF a league, HALF a league ONward”) mimics the thundering hooves of the horses. Repetition of “valley of Death” and “cannon to right of them, / Cannon to left of them, / Cannon in front of them” surrounds the reader with danger, just as the soldiers were surrounded. Tennyson honours obedience (“Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die”) while simultaneously exposing the futility of following orders that lead to slaughter.
The Man He Killed — Thomas Hardy (1902)
Hardy wrote this dramatic monologue from the perspective of an ordinary soldier reflecting on killing an enemy during the Boer War. The speaker realises that in any other situation, the man he killed could have been his friend: “Had he and I but met / By some old ancient inn, / We should have sat us down to wet / Right many a nipperkin!”
The conversational tone and simple ballad form (ABAB rhyme, regular metre) contrast sharply with the gravity of the subject. The dashes and hesitations in “I shot him dead because — / Because he was my foe” reveal the speaker struggling to justify his actions. The repetition of “because” sounds unconvincing, as though the speaker himself does not believe his own reasoning.
Hardy’s speaker reveals that both he and the enemy enlisted because they were out of work: “He thought he’d ’list, perhaps, / Off-hand like — just as I.” This highlights how war exploits the poor — men with no personal quarrel kill each other because they have no other options.
Perspective on duty: Tennyson glorifies obedience (“Theirs not to reason why”), while Owen and Hardy both question it. Owen’s soldiers endure pointless suffering; Hardy’s speaker realises the absurdity of killing a stranger for a cause he doesn’t understand.
Tone: Tennyson uses an elevated, heroic register; Owen is bleak, cold and despairing; Hardy is conversational and darkly ironic. These tonal differences shape how the reader responds emotionally to each poem.
Form: Tennyson’s galloping dactyls drive forward with energy. Owen’s half-rhymes and long stanzas create a dragging, exhausting feel. Hardy’s neat ballad stanzas feel deceptively simple, which makes the moral complexity more shocking.
Exam Focus: AO2 + AO3
In the Edexcel exam, you will be given a named poem printed in the booklet and asked to compare it with one poem of your choice from the anthology. You must discuss how language and structure create meaning (AO2) and the influence of context on the poems (AO3). For these three poems, strong AO3 points include: Owen’s first-hand trench experience, Tennyson’s response to a real news report within weeks of the event, and Hardy’s pacifist beliefs shaped by the Boer War.