The focus is almost entirely on how it happened, not why it happened. The emphasis is not on the individual, but rather on the brigade as a whole, and their collective heroism and sacrifice for their country.
Direct speech is used “Forward the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” To create a sense of immediacy, to allow you to picture what was actually happening. Exclamatory statements are used to put emphasis on the ideas of excitement and their collective power.
The instructions given seem incredibly stupid, “Charge for the guns! He said;” Because it is obvious to the reader that there is no way that a brigade of horseback soldiers will be able to compete when faced with cannons. These instructions seem completely irrational, with the results only able to be horrific losses to the Light Brigade. The semi colon at the end of the line is there to allow the reader a pause to take in this shocking instruction.
Verse two begins by repeating the instruction to go forth into the valley. It is followed by the rhetorical question “Was there a man dismay’d?”
The command is described only as a “blunder”, as though it isn’t that big a mistake. Tennyson doesn’t use a very explicit word in his criticism, very possibly because as poet laureate it was part of his job to show the establishment in the best possible light, irrelevant to the situation.
Unquestioning loyalty to the empire is expected from the soldiers, it wasn’t seen as their place to question or challenge orders given to them from higher ranks, “ Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why” A sense of foreboding is created with,“Theirs to do and die”,
But the emphasis is on their unstoppable courage and their willingness to die for their country. The repeated patterning of the use of “theirs” to start three consecutive rows is done to emphasise the position in which the soldiers have found themselves, and the sacrifice they will have to make. You cannot help but empathise with these men who are about to give their lives for the good of their country.
Verse three begins with repeated patterning like at the end of verse two, this time to show the extreme danger of their situation, being totally surrounded by their enemies cannon fire“Cannon to the left of them, cannon to the right of them, cannon in front of them” The onomatopoeic phrase “volly’d and thunder’d” is used to give a sense on the actual sounds the soldiers were experiencing inside the valley. They are “storm’d at”. This emphasises that it’s a full on, ‘take no prisoners’ kind of attack. It comes across as being very intense, as if they are literally ‘riding into the eye of the storm’.
In the face of overwhelming odds and horror they are still described as riding “boldly”. This emphasises their sheer heroism. “Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell” This language is very simple yet at the same time manages to be very dramatic. Personification is used to make the threat seem even more menacing. The inevitability of the situation is emphasised, there is no way they will all come out of this alive.
Like in the previous two verses, and in the following three, the soldiers are referred to collectively as the “six hundred.” this is done because the emphasis is on the heroism of the brigade as a whole, not the individual sacrifices made.
In verse four, the sheer heroism of the men in the face of adversity is emphasised. They tried to fight against the gunners with their totally inadequate sabres “sabres bare”, even though they knew that the results couldn’t be anything but disastrous. “Charging an army” They were trying to kill the men protected behind the cannons, and the bravery needed to do this must have been immense, and it must have been obvious, even to them that they stood no chance against military power of that size. They were still working together as a team of six hundred, even in the complete pandemonium that must have been surrounding them. This shows their complete dedication to each other, and their country.
Where Tennyson says, “While all the world wonder’d:” Can be taken as quite an ambiguous statement; does he mean that they are gazing at the bravery and heroism of these men, or because of the sheer stupidity and military incompetence. The line is also end stopped to emphasise the dramatic effect of the statement.
“Plunged in the battery smoke, Right thro’ the line they broke;
The word “plunged” is used in the description of their victorious break through enemy lines of cannon against insurmountable odds to show how they didn’t hold back, and gave their very best. “Right” is used to emphasise the real victory they have achieved against overwhelming odds in favour of the enemy.
The cavalrymen’s attack destroys the Russian and Cossack military formation, “Reel’d from the sabre-stroke, Shatter’d and sunder’d”
So the men achieved what we thought they would never be able to do, and reached their military objective, even though it meant many of them lost their lives in the process, “Then they rode back, but not, not the six hundred.”
The start of verse five echoes that of verse three, with identical the repetitive patterning and description of the Russian attack. This is done because it is the same situation; in verse three they were fighting to get down the valley, now they are fighting for their lives trying to get back out of it.
The poem ends by instructing us to honour the soldiers. The tone at the end of the poem is quite elevated, in comparison to the sombre tone with which it began. It could be described as an elegy because it remembers those who died, although it is more triumphant in tone than a typical elegy.
Tennyson doesn’t want us to focus on the dead, and does give details about the losses in the poem. His aim is to portray the courage of the men, not to give a realistic and detailed account of events.
Although is refers slightly to military incompetence, this isn’t a satirical poem. In a position of respect as poet Laureate, he could never have written a poem that put down the military establishment in the way later poets such as Siegfried Sassoon did in poems such as “base details” and “the general”.
Although the purpose of the poem is to commemorate the men who died courageously, I cannot help but feel annoyed at the lack of responsibility that is put upon the higher ranks of the military establishment for the tragic loss of life created by their mistake. I would hope that in our more liberal society today, we would never again allow such mistake to be made without questioning it.
