THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

• ~THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE~ (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

  IDEASSSS

  • Similarly to Hughes, Tennyson shows us the brutal reality of war; it is violent and chaotic.
  • However, unlike Hughes, Tennyson shows us that the patriotism and bravery displayed by these soldiers needs to be remembered and celebrated as they did not turn around and fought until the end.
• FORM

  • Tennyson purposefully uses and inconsistent t=rhyme scheme- we see parts of the poem have some rhyme and parts that are written in free verse.
  • Tennyson employs and inconsistent rhyme scheme in order to reiterate the unpredictability of war and therefore how dangerous it is.
• IMAGERY 1

  "Boldly they, rode and well / into the jaws of death"

  • "Boldly"-> This shows that the soldiers were brave despite realising quickly that they were not given the correct location and that their deaths were inevitable. Tennyson wants us to admire and celebrate this extreme bravery.
  • "jaws of death"-> Metaphor to compare their deaths to being 'chewed up' by a creature. This captures how the soldiers would have endured a slow, painful and grotesque death. The fact that it's directly into the jaws of death, shows that their deaths are inescapable as there is no way of getting out of it. This reiterates the gruesome and traumatic reality of war.
• IMAGERY 2

  "Not to make reply/ not to reason why/ but to do and die"

  • Tennyson is celebrating the soldiers' dedication to serving/dying for their country. He celebrates their lack of self -preservation as it makes them honourable and loyal. This is different to Hughes who presents these same traits as futile.
• IMAGERY 3

  "Stormed at with shot and shell./ while horse and hero fell"

  • The repetition of the 's' sound creates sibilance.
  • The poet uses sibilance in order to immerse us into the war so that we as the readers almost feel as though we can hear the bullets flying through the air. This will enable us to understand the chaotic and violent nature of war.
  • "Stormed"-> Makes us think of a storm- which is typically loud due tot he thunder and can be quite dangerous due to the different characteristics of rain, wind and thunder coming together. By comparing the bullets to a storm, Tennyson is trying to show how dangerously they were flying through the air and could kill.
• LANGUAGE

  "When can their glory fade?... honour the light brigade,/ noble six hundred?"

  Tennyson repeats this phrase because he wants to continuously remind the readers of the honourable sacrifice made by the soldiers and he hopes that we will continue to remember and celebrate their bravery for years to come.
• STRUCTURE

  1-"rhode the 6 hundred" 2-"rhode the 6 hundred" 3-"rhode the 6 hundred" 4-"not the 6 hundred" 5-"left of 6 hundred" 6-"noble 6 hundred"

  Tennyson uses the ending of each stanza to signal how the war increased in brutality as we see that the war took many lives through "not" and "left" of "the 6 hundred". However, despite the brutality increasing, Tennyson shows how the solders did not retreat or cower away, they carried on fighting which shows their nobility.