The Charge of the

Light Brigade
What can we see in this picture?
 Context
The Crimean War 1854-1856
• Britain and France against
Russia
• Began after the Turkish Empire
collapsed and Russia wanted to
extend power south. Allies
landed in Crimea and took
control of Sebastopol.
• War in Crimea, southern
Russia.
• British cavalry (men on
horseback) called the Light
Brigade
 Heroic and Stupid

Charge of the Light Brigade

The British cavalry commander mistook his orders to retake some guns
held by the Russians. Instead he told his men to charge the main
Russian position, which was at the head of a valley bristling with
artillery. The 600 horsemen obeyed but two thirds were killed or
wounded. The Charge is the best known example of heroism and
stupidity of war.
 Poem based on newspaper report
Journalist W.H.Russell reported on the
Charge in The Times:
At the minutes past eleven our Light Cavalry Brigade advanced…They swept
proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war…
At the distance of 1200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth, from
thirty iron mouths, a flood of smoke and flame. The flight was marked by instant
gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horse, by steeds flying and wounded or rider
less across the plain…They flew into the smoke of the batteries; but before they
were lost from view the plain was strewn with their bodies. Through the clouds of
smoke we could see their sabres flashing as they rode between the guns, cutting
down the gunners as they stood… The flank fire of the batteries on the hill swept
them down…at thirty five minutes past eleven not a British soldier, except the
dead and the dying, was left in front of the Russian guns.
 Rhythm
There is a regular fast-paced What is the
rhythm to the poem created
by: rhythm of the
• Regular number of poem
syllables in the lines (5-7);
• End rhymes imitating and
• Repetition of line structures what is the
and words
• Repetition of variation of
effect of
last line. this?
 Order and Obey
‘Forward the Light Brigade!’ The commander
Was there a man had made a
dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
disastrous
Some one had blundered: mistake. Why
Their’s not to make reply, didn’t the men
Their’s not to reason why, question the
Their’s but to do and die: order to charge at
Into the valley of Death the Russian
Rode the six hundred. guns?
 Sounds of war
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and
shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging the army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
 The repetition of the word The monosyllabic words after ‘cannon’

Sounds of war
‘cannon’ with its short sound like a fast-paced, relentless
syllable sounds explosive bombardment of shells

Cannon to the right of them, Flashed all theirThe drawn

sabres out vowel
bare,
sound of the
The repetition of the Flashed as they turned in air word
Cannon to the left of them,
onomatopoeic word ‘flashed’ with
onomatopoeic
Sabring the gunners there,
‘plunged’ help us to
Cannon
its quickinsounding
front ofvowel
them sound
gives us a sense of the speed of
Charging the army, imagine while
the utter despair
Volleyed and thundered;
the attack and of death
of the men as if consumed
All the world wondered:
by smoke
Stormed at with shot and Plunged in the battery-smoke
shell, Throughout theseRight through
stanzas there isthe line theyofbroke;
assonance the
Boldly they rode and harshwell, Cossack
short vowel sounds, andand
‘o’,’u’ Russian
‘a’ (as in ‘plunged’
and ‘wondered’, ‘Cossack’
Reeled andfrom‘volleyed’ and ‘cannon’
the sabre-stroke
Into the jaws of Death, and ‘flashed’). The harsh landscape of war is evoked by
Shattered and sundered.
Into the mouth of Hell these aggressive sounds.
Then they rode back, but not
The onomatopoeic words
Rode the six
‘volleyed’, hundred.
‘thundered’ and Not
Thethe six hundred.
onomatopoeic word ‘shattered’
‘stormed’ all have high energy and helps us to imagine the men and
evoke the sounds of anger, of valley as broken
aggression, of war
 Imagery
‘Into the valley of Death How does
rode the six hundred.’ Tennyson use
metaphor and
‘Into the jaws of Death, personification
Into the mouth of Hell to capture the
Rode the six hundred.’ horror of the
Charge?
 Tennyson metaphorically describes the

Imagery place of battle as the ‘valley of Death.’

This is a powerful image as it suggests
that death is all around the men and
that they cannot escape it. The Russian
‘Into the valley of Death How does
gunmen were at the head of the valley
looking down from a strong vantage
rode the six hundred.’ Tennyson use
point at the cavalry; the British had little
hope of victory. The valley is defined
metaphor and
forever by the fallen men; it now
‘Into the jaws of Death, belongs to Death.
personification
Into the mouth of Hell to capture the
Tennyson personifies Death and Hell. The ‘jaws of Death’
Rode evokes
the six image of inescapability horror
hundred.’
a powerful of the
– the men have been
gripped by something savage and Death will not release its
Charge?
hold over the men. The ‘mouth of Hell’ also conjures an image
of sheer horror. It is as if the earth has opened up to consume
the men – they will die terribly. The men’s lives have been
snatched from them suddenly and violently.
 Pride, splendour, glamour
W.H. Russell Tennyson
They swept proudly past, Right through the line they broke;
glittering in the morning Cossack and Russian
sun in all the pride and Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
splendour of war…with a Then they rode back but not
halo of steel above their Not the six hundred.
heads, and with a cheer
which was many a noble Stormed at with shot and shell
fellow’s death cry, they While horse and hero fell
flew into the smoke of the They that had fought so well
batteries…breaking Came through the jaws of Death,
through a column of Back from the mouth of Hell,
Russians and scattering All that was left of them,
them like chaff Left of the six hundred.
 Tennyson’s voice – stanza six
When can their glory fade? What does
O the wild charge they Tennyson
made!
think of the
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they
soldiers?
made! What do you
Honour the Light Brigade, think that he
Noble six hundred! felt about the
Charge?