AQA Power and Conflict

Patriotism in Power and Conflict4 key quotes across the anthology.

How duty, honour and national pride are used to send people to war — and questioned by the poets.

All Patriotism Quotes

“Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, all in the valley of Death rode the six hundred”
The Charge of the Light Brigade — Alfred Lord Tennyson
Reality of WarPatriotism

Context: The opening of the poem, describing the cavalry's advance during the Battle of Balaclava (1854).

Analysis

The dactylic rhythm of "Half a league" mimics the relentless galloping of the horses, pulling the reader into the charge. The biblical "valley of Death" elevates the soldiers' doomed advance to something epic and sacrificial. The repeated "six hundred" becomes a refrain memorialising the men.

Language Techniques:

Dactylic metreRepetitionBiblical allusion

Exam Tip

Great for rhythm analysis — the metre imitates hoofbeats. "Valley of Death" personifies war as inescapable.

“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die”
The Charge of the Light Brigade — Alfred Lord Tennyson
PatriotismReality of War

Context: The soldiers obey a blundered order without question.

Analysis

The terse, monosyllabic "do and die" captures the soldiers' unquestioning duty and the brutal inevitability of their fate. The internal contrast between thinking ("reason why") and acting ("do and die") highlights how war demands obedience over self-preservation. Tennyson honours their courage while subtly acknowledging the leaders' error.

Language Techniques:

Triadic structureMonosyllablesInternal rhyme

Exam Tip

Use for duty, obedience and the criticism of incompetent leadership ("Someone had blunder'd"). Balances glory with futility.

“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera dropped like luxuries”
Bayonet Charge — Ted Hughes
PatriotismReality of War

Context: The soldier abandons patriotic ideals in the face of survival instinct.

Analysis

The dismissive "etcetera" reduces the grand ideals of "King, honour, human dignity" to meaningless abstractions in the chaos of combat. The simile "dropped like luxuries" shows these patriotic values are useless burdens compared to raw survival. Hughes attacks the propaganda that sends men to war.

Language Techniques:

ListingSimileBathos

Exam Tip

A crucial anti-patriotism quote. The casual "etcetera" exposes how empty patriotic rhetoric becomes under fire.

“a shaven head full of powerful incantations and enough fuel for a one-way journey into history”
Kamikaze — Beatrice Garland
PatriotismIdentity

Context: The opening describes a Japanese kamikaze pilot setting off on his suicide mission in WWII.

Analysis

The "powerful incantations" suggest the pilot is psychologically conditioned by propaganda and ritual to sacrifice himself for honour. "A one-way journey into history" elevates the suicide mission to a glorious, mythologised act — the cultural pressure of patriotism. Garland sets up the conflict between duty and the instinct to live.

Language Techniques:

Religious dictionEuphemismForeshadowing

Exam Tip

Use for patriotism, honour and cultural pressure. Contrast the glorified "history" with the dishonour he later faces for turning back.

Explore More Power and Conflict Themes

Browse quotes by theme across all 15 poems, or view the full anthology.

PowerPower of NatureReality of WarLoss and MemoryIdentityGuiltAnger and Protest
All Power and Conflict QuotesPractice with English Genie