Analyse the techniques and literary devices used by the author in "Charge of the Light Brigade"

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GCSE English Essay – Pre 19th Century Poetry

The Charge of the Light Brigade

     The poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is about a legion of 600 men charging through a valley, whilst being attacked. Tennyson praises the charge: “When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!” but also mourns the decision of the officer who called the charge, “Not tho’ the soldier knew, someone had blunder’d”…“Charging an army, while all the world wonder’d”. This makes the battle seem overall pointless and the lives of the brave men that died rest upon the officers shoulders, which creates irony with the nobility of all the soldiers being un-rewarded because of one man.

     Tennyson wrote this poem in 1854 after he read an account of the battle in a newspaper, The Times. Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born 5th August 1809 in Somerset, Lincolnshire and was a famous poet. Some of his other major works included ‘In Memoriam’ (1850) and ‘Enoch Arden’ (1864). Tennyson also wrote a few plays before he died on 6th October 1892 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

     The poem is written in 6 stanzas, which each contain a varied number of lines. Every stanza describes a different part of the battle with a balance of both nobility and brutality throughout the poem. Although Tennyson subject of the story is patriotism and nobility and the poem’s tone is exciting and inspiring, it heavily describes the horror of war: “Cannon to the left of them, cannon to the right of them, cannon in front of them, volley’d and thunder’d”. This changes the tone of the story, which the poet emphasises with “Mouth of hell” and “Valley of death” being repeated in each stanza.

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     The poet also shows the stages of battle by slightly changing the repeated words. As they first charge, they have a “…cannon in front of them” but in a later stanza he writes, “…cannon behind them”. This shows they have reached the cannons and are now retreating. Also, referring to the cannons and the end of the valley as “The mouth of Hell” he writes “Back from the mouth of Hell” to show that the soldiers are now retreating from the cannons.

     There is a rhyme scheme with three lines in each stanza rhyming together. ...

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