The Charge of the Light Brigade

• Who was The Charge of the Light Brigade written by?

  Alfred Lord Tennyson
• Why was Tennyson not allowed to marry his wife at one point?

  He was too poor
• What type of family did Alfred come from?

  A middle class family
• Alfred Lord Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate in 1850 - He was expected to write about verse on occasions of national significance
• What was the name of the War that led to the Charge of the Light Brigade being written?

  The Crimean War - It was a very unpopular war with the British public - there was public doubt as to why the UK was involved as well as mistakes being made in the highest level of command
• What Battle does the Charge of the Light Brigade focus on?

  The Battle of Balaclava
• Why were the cavalry disrespected by the working class troops?

  Usually only the upper class could be part of the cavalry as you had to pay for your horse and other expenses. On top of this, the cavalry were usually not as involved in battles and never did anything
• What happened in the Charge of the Light Brigade?

  The Light Brigade received the wrong orders due to a mix-up in communications which led to them charging towards the wrong place : Russians with artillery and guns shooting at them from 3 sides of the valley . The Light Brigade did not retreat and kept going so they were torn to pieces - The light brigade was a futile mission as the cavalry were doomed
• How did Alfred Lord Tennyson find out about the War?

  News reporters had gone to the war zone and wrote about what happened . The events were described in a newspaper as a ' hideous blunder ' - This was read by Tennyson and he could not get this particular phrase out of his head
• When they heard about what happened in the Battle of Balaclava , the British public were outraged and read the report as a criticism of the blundering upper classes and think that the aristocracy are pointless - Florence Nightingale was inspired to help out in the Crimean War and Tennyson wrote the poem
• The poem can be seen as either praising the bravery and honour of the soldiers , or a criticism of the upper classes and blind obedience to power
• Why were there 6 verses in the poem TCotLB?

  As there were 600 soldiers
• What does half a league mean?

  A mile and a half
• What form is the poem written in?

  A ballad - a historic form of poetry that used to be sung and tells a story . This form of poetry also contains a refrain which is a line that is repeated regularly throughout the poem - in TCotLB , this would be the repetition of the ' six hundred '
• Why might a poet choose to use a ballad when writing poetry?

  If there is an important story to be told , it can be written into a ballad so that it can be passed on to future generations - The musicality of the refrain has medieval roots and is used to help others remember the story they are telling
• The use of the ballad form in TCotLB suggests there is an element of folklore to the poem and it is an awe inspiring act of bravery and that the soldiers should always be honoured, as well as the fact that the blunder that caused this to happen and to not make the same mistakes again
• What meter is the the poem 'TCotLB' written in?

  Dactylic dimeter - This is where there are 2 dactylic feet per line . And a dactyl is where there is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
• Why is dactylic dimeter used in 'TCotLB'?

  Tennyson wants us to fully appreciate the bravery of the soldiers by making us feel like we were on the battlefield with them, which allows us to empathize and understand their bravery to a higher level.
• The use of dactylic dimeter used in 'TCotLB' mirrors the galloping hoofbeats of the horses and makes the poem sound like the battle, which adds energy and pace to the poem, which combines to allow the reader to emphasize with the soldiers and honour them
• Why is the line "Someone had blundered" not written in dactylic dimeter?

  This is emphasizing the blunder and criticising the leadership error that led to the 600 charging on the valley - This line is shorter and mirrors the shortening and dramatic stop of the soldiers lives
• " The valley of Death " is a biblical reference that refers to Psalm 23 - and a reference to David v Goliath as both take place in a valley and have an underdog taking on a powerful enemy - so this likens the Charge of the Light Brigade to David v Goliath
• Why might the word "Theirs" be repeated?

  In Victorian England, there was a value for order and obedience to hierarchy. The soldiers do this, but Tennyson could be criticising this blind obedience , as he may have felt that the absence of individual freedom in the armed forces may have caused the soldiers to follow the orders that weren't meant for them
• Why might Tennyson use the word "wondered"?

  This could be a positive, as it might suggest that everyone is awestruck by the bravery of the soldiers. This could be a negative too, as it might suggest that the whole world was wondering how such a stupid mistake could have been made. On top of this, the word carries both the pride of the men (-won) and the understanding that their deaths were futile (-ered)
• Why do many words in the poem end in -ered?

  These words create a sense of sound - the drum like beat that these words create echoes the sound of the horses in the battle. However, the -ered sound has phonetic similarities to the word 'erred' (to make an error), so the repetition of the -ered sound can be seen as subtle reminder that a mistake was made