The Charge of the Light BrigadeAlfred Tennyson

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a disastrous charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s was Poet Laureate at the time. His lines have made the charge a symbol of warfare at both its most courageous and its most tragic.

Lord Cardigan led the charge from the front and, never looking back, did not see what was happening to the troops behind him.

He reached the Russian guns, took part in the fight and then returned alone up the valley without bothering to rally or even find out what had happened to the survivors.

600 horsemen followed orders to attack the Russians. Two thirds of them were killed or injured.The Russians were so surprised by the rashness, they thought the British were drunk!

Cardigan left the field and went on board his yacht in Balaclava harbour, where he ate a champagne dinner!

News of the Charge reached England three weeks later.

War correspondent William Russell, who witnessed the battle, declared "our Light Brigade was annihilated by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy

Link to You Tube 6min video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj5bilCQEDU

Tennyson's poem, published on 9 December 1854 in The Examiner, praises the Brigade, "When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!", while trenchantly mourning the appalling futility of the charge: "Not tho' the soldier knew, someone had blunder'd… Charging an army, while all the world wonder'd.”

Tennyson wrote the poem inside only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle in The Times, according to his grandson Sir Charles Tennyson.

It immediately became hugely popular, even reaching the troops in the Crimea, where it was distributed in pamphlet form.

Forty years later Kipling wrote The Last of the Light Brigade, commemorating the visit of the last twenty survivors to Tennyson (then in his eightieth year) gently to reproach him for not writing a sequel about the way in which England was treating its old soldiers

IHalf a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

IIForward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

IIICannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.

IVFlash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.

VCannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.

VIWhen can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honour the charge they made,Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

IHalf a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

Thundering rhythm

throughout the poem, echoes

horses’ hooves.

3 miles is a league, so half a league would not be very far on a galloping horse.

“Valley of Death” refers to an episode of John Bunyon’s

Pilgrim’s Progress and to Psalm 23 from the New Testament of

the Bible: in both of these sources, faith makes people

brave when they are faced with death.Doesn’t say who ‘he’ is, or why.

Highlights the blind obedience soldiers follow in war. In reality

it was a command that was misunderstood.

Charging into guns, obviously

very dangerous,

they knew they were heading into danger

Valley of Death, repeated. The audience of the time would all have known the

outcome of the battle, that only around 100 escaped unscathed.

IIForward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.’

Repetition of shouted order,

the men are not afraid though, accentuates their bravery.

However, all the soldiers knew that a mistake had

been made, but they still followed orders.

Incredible for a civilian to understand this

loyalty.

Regimented style reflects the soldiers devotion to duty &

militarism. They realise they are heading

towards death but continue to follow

orders. We are privy to their thoughts.

Perspective shifts once more & we see the wider picture, more

repetition of Valley of Death.

III

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.

Repeated 3 times, speech writers always

repeat 3 times, far more effective. Gives an idea of the layout

of the battlefield, soldiers are surrounded.

Barrage is like a force of nature,

so massive, nothing men can

do anything about.

Extended metaphor of Valley of Death. They death

is not glorious, but hell, vicious war claiming its

victims.

Nobility of soldiers, they continue to ride ‘well’ even as its

towards their deaths.

IV

Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.

Initially they are successful & the Russians retreat

under the Cavalry’s attack with swords rather than guns.

What is the world wondering? How

they can be so brave in the face of such a mighty force? That perhaps they may

win the battle?

Repetition of ‘not’. Their bravery is resolute, they will not retreat. Bold & brave & determined.

V

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.

Now the cannons are behind them, the slight victory hasn’t improved

their situation, the stormof war is not

relenting

Anthropologists have observed that going into

hell & then returning is a

common motif in the mythology of

many of the world’s cultures, including one of the best-known

myths of Western civilization, the

labours of Hercules. The

survivors of this battle are thus raised to heroic status by the

words that this poem uses to describe the

valley’s entrance.

VI

When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honour the charge they made,Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

We are addressed

directly & asked to answer a

question. But its beyond our

comprehension.

Repetition again, we

wonder how they can have

obeyed obviously

flawed orders.

We are told how to feel about them,

remember context, Poet laureate,

patriotic, writing for mass audience,

many of whom would have been

uneducated. Celebrate their

honour. A tribute to their bravery

Little outright criticism of leaders, upholding

establishment & call to glory of soldiers & of

doing ones’ duty’ without question.