“Rode the six hundred “ this tells me that they rode with six hundred soldiers and returned with an estimate of four hundred this emphasises the tragedy of loosing so may good and heroic soldiers.
“Was there a man dismayed.”? The men did not question any order, they did not mind dying for their country but what they were to face was too much, it was a slaughter.
“Some one had blundered.” It was a tragic mistake, he is hinting at a mistake but he is not blaming anyone specifically.
“Theirs not to make a reply
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do and die.”
They had to do what the commanders told them to, they had great respect for them no question even if they did not like the strategy. It was their duty to take orders. Fight and die!
The Third Stanza starts by saying, “Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
"Cannons in front of them.”
He is telling us where they were being shot from they did not stand a chance they did not have the ammunition.
They were very brave and fearless for they courage.
Tennyson describes the entrance to the valley as the “Jaws of death” he is using personification to make the tension even stronger, comparing it to a sharks mouth.
In the fourth stanza Tennyson is describing the soldiers sabres flashing and gleaming in the sun as they turned in the air. Again hinting at mistakes “Charging an army while all the world wondered “ not condemning the commanders.
“Cossack and Russian reeled from the sabre stroke.” The cavalry did damage the Russian line.
“ They rode back, but not the six hundred.”
They were outnumbered and massacred the six hundred did not ride back.
Tennyson is describing again the cannons that outnumbered them to the right of them to the left of them and behind them. They were going to be slaughtered and most of them knew that yet they still fought with spirit.
In the fifth stanza at the end of it they use personification “ came through the Jaws of Death, back from the mouth of hell, All that was left of them, left of six hundred” it carries a lot of tension when you read it. It uses personification when it says Jaws of Death, mouth of hell, he is describing where they will die, the killing ground.
In the sixth stanza Tennyson says “ When will their glory fade” they are very patriotic, they would do any thing for their country. The idea of it brings glory but really it is a terrible and horrific nightmare.
Tennyson writes this poem as a patriotic poem that describes honour. These men who fought should never be forgotten.
