“The Charge of the Light Brigade”

POESÍA INGLESA DE LOS SIGLOS XIX Y XX

NAME: LORENA RAMOS

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Lord Alfred Tennyson

1 Half a league half a league
2 Half a league onward
3 All in the valley of Death
4 Rode the six hundred:
5 `Forward the Light Brigade
6 Charge for the guns' he said
7 Into the valley of Death
8 Rode the six hundred

9 `Forward the Light Brigade!'
10 Was there a man dismay'd?
11 Not tho' the soldier knew
12 Some one had blunder'd:
13 Theirs not to make reply,
14 Theirs not to reason why,
15 Theirs but to do & die,
16 Into the valley of Death
17 Rode the six hundred.

18 Cannon to right of them,
19 Cannon to left of them,
20 Cannon in front of them
21 Volley'd & thunder'd;
22 Storm'd at with shot & shell,
23 Boldly they rode & well,
24 Into the jaws of Death,
25 Into the mouth of Hell
26 Rode the six hundred.

27 Flash'd all their sabres bare,
28 Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
29 Sabring the gunners there,
30 Charging an army while
31 All the world wonder'd:
32 Plunged in the battery-smoke
33 Right thro' the line they broke;
34 Cossack & Russian
35 Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
36 Shatter'd & sunder'd.
37 Then they rode back, but not
38 Not the six hundred

39 Cannon to right of them,
40 Cannon to left of them,
41 Cannon behind them
42 Volley'd & thunder'd;
43 Storm'd at with shot & shell,
44 While horse & hero fell,
45 They that had fought so well
46 Came thro' the jaws of Death
47 Back from the mouth of Hell,
48 All that was left of them
49 Left of six hundred.

50 When can their glory fade?
51 O the wild charge they made!
52 All the world wonder'd.
53 Honour the charge they made!
54 Honour the Light Brigade,
55 Noble six hundred!

ATennyson
Apr.10/64.

http://etext.virginia.edu/britpo/tennyson/TenChar.html

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Lord Alfred Tennyson can be qualified as a historical poem as this poem reflects the facts occurred in the Battle of Balaclava (Ukraine) in the Crimean War (1854-56). Britain entered the war, which was fought by Russia against Turkey, Britain and France, because Russia sought to control the Dardanelles. 247 men of the 637 in the charge were killed or wounded (nationalcenter). They were just following orders although they knew they were going to die. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” was written by Tennyson to commemorate the courage and valour of the 600 hundred who fight in the Battle of Balaclava.

The rhyme scheme of this poem is quite irregular as it is composed by 6 stanzas with 8, 9, 9, 12, 11 and 6 verses respectively. This irregularity was probably made by Tennyson to differentiate the three parts of the poem. The first three stanzas are slow and set the scene of the battle “Half a league half a league” (line 1). The stanzas fourth and fifth represent the battle itself, the moment where the action took place “Flash'd all their sabres bare” (line 27) “Charging an army while” (line 30). The last stanza emphasises the valour and courage of the six hundred who participated in the battle of Balaclava “Noble six hundred!” (line 55).

In the first stanza the six hundred soldiers are arriving to the place they will fight and most of them will die. The soldiers are ordered to go forward in to the valley of Death “ Forward the Light Brigade” (line 6) “ charge for the guns” (line 7) he said This place is baptised by Tennyson as “the valley of Death” to warn us they are almost committing suicide.

The second stanza starts with the repetition of “Forward the Light Brigade!” (line 9) as we find the same verse in line 5. However, this time it is an exclamation. The soldiers didn’t doubt to follow the orders although they knew someone made a big mistake. These verses also emphasise the courage of the soldiers “Was there a man dismay’d?” (line 10) “Not tho’ the soldier knew” (line 11) “some one had blunder’d” (line 12). The six hundred didn’t question the commander’s authority although they knew it was a big mistake and they were going to die “ theirs but to do & die” (line 15).

In the third stanza Tennyson makes use of anaphora, in which the word “ cannon” is repeated at the beginning of several consecutive verses “ cannon to the right of them / cannon to left of them / cannon in front of them” (lines 18-19-20) Here, Tennyson wants to emphasise the fact they were surrounded. This effect makes the reader to identify themselves with the soldiers. The readers would be tremendously shocked if they were in the battle so that these verses emphasise the courage and valour of the six hundred. In verses 24 and 25 Tennyson uses different metaphors to refer to the place the soldiers died “Jaws of Death” “mouth of Hell”, which was previously called The Valley of Death (line 7). It is also important to emphasize the repetition of the two last verses in the two first stanzas “into the valley of Death / rode the six hundred”. In addition, in the third stanza the 24^th verse has the same structure and meaning that the lines 7 and 16. “ into the jaws of Death” (lines 7,16) “ into the mouth of Hell”. Treating death as the same thing as hell and making both as real as an animal’s attack, the poem heightens the viciousness or death on the battlefield. The last verse of the third first stanzas is repeated “ Rode the six hundred”), which gives a picture of movement at the same time it is observed the inequality in terms of logistic equipment as the Russians fight with canons and they are riding horses.

The fourth stanza starts with a control of the six hundred over the Cossack and Russians “sabring the gunners there” (line 29). They ride into the enemy and are able to break through the front line of defence “right thro’ the line they broke” (line 33). Here it is shown a quite brave image of the six hundred, however the six hundred in the end are not the six hundred any more “then they rode back, but not / not the six hundred” (lines 37-38).

The first five lines of the fifth stanza are the same than those from the third stanza with the exception of “cannon in front of them” (line 20) which is substituted by “cannon behind them” which is even more desolator. This stanza gives us a picture of devastation as this is the moment many soldiers die in spite of their bravery and skills “ while horse & hero hell / they that had fought so well” (lines 44-45). Then, Tennyson makes reference to those who survive the battle “came thro’ the jaws of Death/ Back from the mouth of Hell”, they came back from Death as it was a miracle they survived the catastrophe.

Finally Tennyson expresses the immeasurable courage of these soldiers “when can their glory fade?” (line 50) “O the wild charge they made” (line 51). With the repetition of “ all the word wonder’d” (lines 31-52) the whole world wondered how they were able to be loyal until the end even though they knew they will probably die. Finally, the end of this last stanza shows the main purpose of the poet: to pay tribute to the brave six hundred who died in the battle of Balaclava for loyalty to those who blundered. “ Honour the Light Brigade / Honour the Light Brigade / Noble six hundred!

Sources:

· Charge of the Light Brigade." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 May 2006, 15:06 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade&oldid=51687326>.

· http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/RWI/20004_5project3/WWW/Charge.htm.

gllwebd3@leeds.ac.uk <gllwebd3@leeds.ac.uk> 7-05-2006

· http://etext.virginia.edu/britpo/tennyson/TenChar.html. David Seaman. etextcenter@virginia.edu. 06-05-2006

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