The Charge Of The Light Brigade.
The Charge Of The Light Brigade.
During 1854, war broke out between the Allies, Britain and France, and Russia. This was because Britain and France feared Russia would spread southwards into Turkey
after the Turkish Empire collapsed. The Allies landed in Crimea, in southern Russia, and besieged Sebastopol. During this war, a British cavalry commander mistook his orders,
and told his men to charge the main Russian position in a valley on horse brigade, with swords against cannons. Alfred Tennyson read a newspaper report by W. H. Russel in the
Times, and very quickly, possibly due to emotion, he wrote his poem called The Charge Of The Light Brigade.
Due to the fact that Alfred Tennyson was not at the war, and he got his information from a newspaper article, Tennyson's poem contains extracts from the article. For
example, in the report, W. H. Russel writes: through clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing. Also, in Tennyson's poem he writes: flashed as they turned in air,
sabring the gunners there. This extract Tennyson used also represents Russel's: cutting down the gunners as they stood. Another example, is that in the report it reads: when
the flank fire of the batteries on the hill. Tennyson extracted this and wrote: plunged in the battery smoke, right through the line they broke. Which also is extracted from:
breaking through a column of Russians.
In verse one, Tennyson creates a sense of movement in many ways. Firstly is Tennyson's use of repetition, for example:
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward
This repetition creates the sense of movement in that each half a league is the Light Brigade galloping on another distance. The word onward also suggests movement, of the Light
Brigade advancing on the enemy. Tennyson also uses a range of other words which suggest movement, words such as forward represent movement, as well as the repetition of
rode, which suggests constant movement. The rhythm of the first verse is similar to the rest of the poem. The rhythm imitates the charging of the ...
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Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward
This repetition creates the sense of movement in that each half a league is the Light Brigade galloping on another distance. The word onward also suggests movement, of the Light
Brigade advancing on the enemy. Tennyson also uses a range of other words which suggest movement, words such as forward represent movement, as well as the repetition of
rode, which suggests constant movement. The rhythm of the first verse is similar to the rest of the poem. The rhythm imitates the charging of the horses, which is movement. So the
words of the first verse represent a sense of movement, as well as the way they are read. Tennyson, also in verse one, creates a sense of doom. This is done firstly, by calling the
setting the valley of death, which suggests that anyone who enters the valley will certainly die. A sense of doom is also created by saying Charge for the guns!, which for a soldier
means certain death when only armed with a sword. In the first verse Tennyson uses direct speech. This is very important because it speaks to the reader and so they become
involved with the poem. By a reader being involved in a poem, it is easier for them to imagine they are there, which is why direct speech is so important.
In verse two, the poet conveys the soldier's responses as blind courage, and determined to serve their country. A section of verse two reads:
Theirs not to make reply
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do and die
This section, I believe, is saying that it is not the soldiers place to question the decision of brigadiers, but to perform duties ordered and if necessary die for their country. The verse
ends with:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred
Which shows that is what they did. The repetition of theirs emphasise their duties being only to die for their country. It is on line four of verse two when it can be seen a mistake
has been made, when it reads: someone had blundered. Not as significant as the repetition of the soldier's duties, there is still repetition of the brigade riding into doom as in verse
one in:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
In verse three, the verse begins with repetition, in:
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them.
This quote is full of repetition, of cannon, and the positions of the cannons. The strong impression caused by this repetition is of the soldiers being surrounded by cannon fire, and
not being able to see anything else. Tennyson, in this verse used lots of verbs, verbs such as volleyed, thundered, and stormed. These verbs create a lot of action, this action is
produced by powerful actions of the soldiers. This action draws in the reader, as if they are at the battle, which makes the poem better, by interesting and keeping the attention of
the reader. Line five of verse three, contains alliteration of the s sound: stormed at with shot and shell. This sibilance improves the flow of the poem. This gives the effect of the
flow of the charge which is flowing even with shot and shell. A significant change in verse three is the change to the ending which was repeated in verses one and two, the new
ending being:
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
This change is very good, because it is that now the soldiers are closer to the enemy it can be seen as a comparison to hell. Whereas before from a distance it was merely a valley
of death, not hell.
In verse four, Tennyson very good word order, for example Tennyson uses verbs first. By using verbs before other words, action is injected into the verse before the line
can even be read. Tennyson chose the word flashed because it is a fast action word, of which the action acts as the verbs in verse three. A flash is a fast is a fast occurrence, which
is just as the battle would have been. The word flashed is repeated because it is used talking about swords circling, and the sabre flashes each time it turns. Most lines in verse
four begin with verbs, such as plunged, reeled and shattered. Again verbs are used to begin because doing words give the lines instant action and keep the readers attention. The
last two lines of verse four are:
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
These lines are significant because this is the first point during the poem, at which we hear of death of members of the light brigade. Also, the repetition of the word not emphasises
the fact that these lines have actually been lost.
Verse five is very similar to verse three, I believe this is because it gives the poem symmetry. Verse four was a verse referring to death, which is a very negative subject to
come from this charge. To give symmetry, the negative verse is surrounded by verses three and five which focus on the good points of the charge. Verse three is about braveness
going into the valley. Verse five mirrors verse three and shows the outcome, which is some surviving against all of the odds. Verbs are once again used a lot in verse five, to add
action to the piece.
Verse six begins with a rhetorical question, which is:
When can their glory fade?
This use of rhetorical questioning once again involves the reader, and it shows and possibly persuades the reader that their glory will never fade. I believe Tennyson's attitude
towards the Light Brigade is great respect of their bravery. This is because he is ordering the reader to:
Honour the charge they made
Honour the Light Brigade,
Which I believe is his belief, that they deserve respect.
Marc Curtis 11p
