The Charge of the Light Brigade
What it's about
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson tells of a British cavalry charge in the in 1854. Because of a mistaken order, about six hundred horsemen rode straight at the Russian guns, and many were killed.
Tennyson was , the official national poet. He wrote the poem soon after reading a newspaper report of the battle. It praises the soldiers' courage, while admitting that ‘Some one had blunder'd’.
Key terms
Form and rhythm
The poem has six stanzas of different lengths. Its rhythm is built on , a stressed beat followed by two unstressed ones: ‘HALF a league, HALF a league’. It sounds like galloping horses, driving the reader forward.
is everywhere. ‘Rode the six hundred’ ends several stanzas, and ‘Cannon to right of them, / Cannon to left of them’ shows the soldiers surrounded. The phrase ‘valley of Death’ echoes the Bible, making the charge sound noble and tragic.
Key terms
Glory and honour
The soldiers obey without question: they were there ‘but to do and die’. Tennyson presents this as heroic duty, even though the order was a mistake.
The final stanza turns the disaster into glory:
The exclamations and commands tell the reader how to feel: proud of the soldiers, not angry at the mistake.
Themes and comparisons
the reality of war; honour and duty; patriotism.
- Exposure: two very different views of war, glory against misery.
- Bayonet Charge: another charge, but told as terror rather than glory.
- Remains: the reality of war for one soldier.
Common mistake
Don't call the poem simply anti-war. Tennyson criticises the mistake but celebrates the soldiers.