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. There is another rhythm, continuing throughout the story; hoof beats of the horses in battle are heard with a series of words as the poem is read. “Stormed at with shot and shell, while horse and hero fell, they that had fought so well…” This makes an impact on the tone of the story, as now the reader can hear the sounds of the battlefield.
The poet seems distressed, angry and passionate about the events at the battle and sympathises with the soldiers: “Boldly they rode and well” and especially when the officers orders them wrongly: “Their’s not to make reply, their’s not to reason why, their’s but to do and die.” This make the reader also feel sympathetic and saddened that such noble men were led to their death.
“Mouth of death, Jaws of death, Valley of death and Mouth of Hell” are all repeated in the poem, which shows repetition but they are all related to death. This, once again, adds to the tone of war. They are also all personifications, which is one of the many literary devices used in this poem. Personifications in this poem are used to give things in the battle, human qualities, such as: ”Mouth of hell…Jaws of Death”.
Tennyson uses punctuation to great extent, with words being shortened with apostrophes, exclamation and question marks also being used. These apostrophes are put in place of the ‘e’ in certain verbs: “Wonder’d…storm’d…thunder’d” and also “thro’…tho’”. These are used to get the attention of the reader and to shorten the words. This makes the line shorter, so as the soldiers are charging, it quickens the pace. The poem also has commands shouted to the soldiers as they are charging into battle: “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns! He said…” This changes the volume of the poem, as the opening four lines are gentle and soft. This brings the battle to life, gets the reader interested and excited.
In the poem, the poet uses repetition in every stanza to add another rhythm to the poem. “Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon behind them”. This is used to interest the reader, so as Tennyson is repeating lots of the lines; the reader expects the same line to come up again in the next stanza. At the end of every stanza, Alfred, Lord Tennyson repeats the same number, six hundred: “Rode the six hundred…Left of six hundred…Not the six hundred”. This is mainly used to emphasise the number of men who went into battle for their country with most of them losing their lives whilst fighting. He also emphasises that they are noble men who should be honoured because they gave their lives fighting for ‘us’. “Honor the charge they made, Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred”. Tennyson uses this repetition to effect, as the reader feels guilty that these men are dying, fighting for his freedom and he is doing nothing.
Another device the writer uses is alliteration; “Sabre stroke, Shatter’d and sunder’d”. This is a clever use of alliteration by Tennyson as not only does he use it to interest the reader but it is also the sound of a sword, sweeping through the air, just as the men on horseback were doing in the battle.
We can date the essay to pre-20th Century as at the beginning of the poem, the writer opens with “Half a league, half a league, half a league onward”. A league is an old word meaning 3 miles. So half a league is about a mile and a half.
“The shadow of the valley of death”, Psalm 23, is usually read at funerals so this has an impact on the reader. If they know this verse in read at someone’s death, then that will emphasise the feeling of death they have when they are reading a poem of war, with part of the same verse in.
After the fury of the charge towards the cannons, the final words are gentle and make you reflect on the scenes beforehand: ”Then they rode back, but not, Not the six hundred”. This has an impact on the reader as now he reflects on the battle and is grateful to those who have lost their lives for their country. The reader is also surprised at the bravery of the soldiers, even though they knew they would probably die. They knew it was the wrong decision, but they just kept riding and did not question the officer’s decision.