Charge of the Light Brigade

Charge of the Light Brigade
This poem, written by Alfred Tennyson, is called the Charge of the Light Brigade. Judging from the context of the poem, it appears to be on a small army charging into enemy territory. This poem talks about how the soldiers fought. Alfred Tennyson considers the Light Brigade as heroes because he writes about them as courageous and worthy of praise.

Research

I researched on the charge of the Light Brigade and this is what I found: * The Charge of the Light Brigade happened in the battle of Balaclava that was part of the Crimean war. * It was a charge of the British light cavalry, which were lightly armed troops on horses. * Lord Cardigan led the Light Brigade against Russian troops. * Lord Raglan, who was the commander overall, had sent the Light Brigade pursue and attack a retreating Russian artillery battery (unit of guns), but because of a mistake in communication, the Light Brigade was instead sent to a different artillery battery in frontal assault.

Analysis

First Paragraph

The poem starts by with this line:
‘Half a league, Half a league, Half a league forward’.
This is trying to portray the leader of the group ordering them to continue onwards. It also gives a sense of urgency to the audience by using repetition to give the sentence tension. This shows that the Light Brigade is close to their destination.

Then the poem continues on to say:
‘All in the valley of death rode the six hundred’.
This suggests that the Light Brigade is in danger by referring to their location as the ‘Valley of Death’. This phrase strongly exaggerates their location as death so that the audience can feel what the soldiers would have felt in their circumstances.

The next verses contain the same context as the first verses except for one statement. Alfred Tennyson writes this line:
‘ “Charge for the guns!” he said’.
This creates fast-paced tension because by shouting this order, the leader urges the Light Brigade to arm themselves or protect themselves as quickly as they can. This then links to the possibility that they must both be unarmed and unprotected or in danger of being shot.

Second Paragraph

The second paragraph begins by stating the objective of the Light Brigade by this phrase:
‘Was there a man dismayed?
Not though' the soldier knew’
This is a rhetorical question because the poem answers the question itself. The main reason as to why this poetic device was used is so that the audience would realize that the Light Brigade were not alarmed in the slightest by this assignment. This shows that the Light Brigade were not frightened and would not hesitate to complete this assignment.

The poem then continues on to say:
‘Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die’.
This phrase tells the audience that it was not the Light Brigade’s job to reply or question orders but just to follow those orders and die if necessary. This shows the audience that the Light Brigade was very loyal and would die for their job.

It then continues to say:
‘Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.’

Third Paragraph

The third paragraph starts by this phrase:
‘Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them.’
This tells the reader that the Light Brigade is surrounded and in danger because by showing the locations of the cannons, we know that they are surrounded. The effect on the audience is that the speed of the poem rises as the tension also rises. Therefore, the reader can sense that the Light Brigade are in danger.

It then says:
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell…’
This is portraying the Light Brigade being attacked. We know this because it says that they were volleyed, thundered and stormed at with bullets. This highlights the fact that the Light Brigade was being shot at.

Next, it says:
‘Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.’
This is telling the audience that even though they were being attacked, the Light Brigade was still riding forward into what seemed to be the mouth of death. This shows that their lives are in danger.

Fourth Paragraph

The fourth paragraph starts by saying:
‘Flashed all their sabers bare,
Flashed as they turned in air…’
These verses are informing the audience of the Light Brigade’s actions. The poet repeats the word ‘flashed’ in both verses as imagery. This creates an image in your mind of swords being pulled out of their scabbards, flashing.

Then it says:
‘Sabering the gunners there,
Charging an army, while All the world wondered:’
These verses tell the reader that the Light Brigade was bravely fighting the Russians. The poem talks about the Light Brigade as brave and makes the Light Brigade sound victorious although we know that the Light Brigade was badly beaten by the Russians. The last verse stands out to me because it says the entire world watched in awe as the Light Brigade fought. This exaggerates the wonder and amazement people felt when news of the brave charge of the Light Brigade.

It continues to say:
‘Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke…’
These verses mean that even though thrown in the smoke of the guns firing, the Light Brigade managed to break through enemy lines. In the first verse, it says that the Light Brigade was thrown into the battery-smoke. I think that this means the smoke of the guns because it is similar to artillery battery that means a unit of guns. Thus, I arrived at the conclusion that battery-smoke meant the smoke of guns. The message that this paragraph has delivered almost seems impossible. Even under such dire circumstances, the Light Brigade managed to penetrate enemy lines.

Then it says:
‘Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.’
These verses mean that the enemies scattered from the attacking Light Brigade and that their organized lines were shattered and split apart. The words ‘reeled, shattered and sundered’ are powerful language as it shows how violently the enemies’ lines were broken into and split apart.

The fourth paragraph finishes by saying:
‘Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.’
These last verses are trying to say that the Light Brigade retreated with such great losses that they were not the six hundred any longer. These verses are cleverly written so that it seems as though the Light Brigade won the battle and was returning, although the Light Brigade retreated from the battle.

Fifth Paragraph

The fifth paragraph starts by repeating the first verses of the third paragraph:
‘Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell…’
The fifth paragraph repeats the third paragraph so that the audience would know even while the Light Brigade was retreating, the enemy was attacking them consistently.

It then says:
‘While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well…’
These verses reflect on the soldiers who died during the charge. It refers to the soldiers who fell as heroes because the poet thinks that they deserve this title.

The use of the word ‘hero’ is so that the audience knows that the men who fell were valiant warriors, even giving their lives so that the Light Brigade could survive. The second verse of the verses above give almost a sigh of regret that such heroes who fought so well should die.

Then it continues to say:
‘Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell…’
These verses reveal that few survived the charge and returned from the verge of death. This in turn makes the target audience feel nervousness and tension because they yet don’t know how many soldiers returned.

The next verses are:
‘All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.’
This confirms to the target audience that only a handful of soldiers survived the suicidal charge. The audience know feels wonder and amazement because the reader thinks that even though the Light Brigade already knew that the assignment was suicidal and would result in sadness and mourning, they continued on with the mission. The fifth paragraph finishes the narration of the Light Brigade’s charge by telling the audience that the six hundred were gone and all but a few survived.
Sixth Paragraph

The final paragraph starts by saying:
‘When can their glory fade?’
This tells the audience that the charge of the Light Brigade gave the Light Brigade a big amount of praise and glory. This verse is a rhetorical question that was written to show that the Light Brigade’s glory will never fade or be forgotten.

Then it says:
‘O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.’
These verses are praises of the Light Brigade, if they were summarized. It uses the word ‘wild’ so that the target audience can picture the image of how the Light Brigade charged in their minds.

Then it repeats the phrase from the fourth paragraph. It means that the entire world were in awe of the Light Brigade.

It then finishes the whole poem by saying:
‘Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.’
The author writes this because the author feels that the charge of the Light Brigade and the Light Brigade itself should be acknowledged and honored by everyone who reads this poem. He finishes the whole poem by giving the title ‘Noble’ to the brave six hundred men who died for the country.

By Heil Park