TCOTLB

• Context of TCOTLB

  • Tennyson had a miserable childhood with an abusive father however he was still able to get a good education in superb grammar schools.

  • Tennyson was made Poet Laureate, a post which bound him into not making criticisms of British aristocracy and glorifying the British War effort.

  • The poem is based on the Battle of Balaclava on 25th of October 1854 as a part of the Crimean war.

  • The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge made headfirst into enemy guns as a result of a communication error.

  • The Crimean war as originally a conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire however France and Britain got involved to prevent a Russian expansion.

  • The war effort was unpopular with the public as the Light Brigade often consisted of people from the lower classes who were lightly armoured.
• Storm'd at with shot and shell


  Tennyson utilises the harsh plosives of the 't' and 'd' here in order to show the repetitive pain of the soldiers in the belligerent war- this creating a harsh and painful sound on the ears to impress the pain of war upon the reader.
• "half a league"


  poem also begins in media res (middle of the action) with "half a league" in order to thrust the reader into the visceral nature and suddenness of the charge.
• "Horse and Hero fell"

  Tennyson uses euphemistic language in order to avoid criticising the higher powers and avoiding portraying the true nature of war. "Horse and Hero fell" illustrates this as he avoids to expose the barbaric truth to the reader about those who were mercilessly slaughtered. The alliteration here also emphasises the continuous nature of this massacre.
• someone had blundered


  The ambiguity in the usage of the word "someone" shows how there was a profound lack of accountability for the massacre, with those in power not being truly held accountable for their actions. This also shows how Tennyson was unable to criticise the aristocracy as freely as he would have liked.
• Theirs not to make reply,

  The usage of an anaphora in "theirs not to make reply" highlights the obedience and lack of individualism that the soldiers had- they were uniformed in their identity and suffering.
• Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell


  Tennyson highlights how they rode into the 'Mouth of Hell" and 'Jaws of Death'. The personification of hell and death, paired with the biblical allusion of "Death expands its Jaws", shows us how despite their awareness that death was imminent, they died as a martyr to religion and their country.

  The personification makes "Death and Hell" seem to posses a human like-power. This exacerbates how the soldiers were powerless to these concepts, yet still selflessly sacrificed themselves.
• Reel'd from the sabre-stroke

  Shatter'd and sunder'd.

  Then they rode back, but not the six hundred. Cannon to right of them,

  Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them


  Tennyson contrasts the "sabres" of the light brigade against the "cannons" of the enemy. This illustrates the bravery and patriotism of the soldiers as it shows their willingness to put their life on the line in order to follow orders despite the insurmountable odds against them. The usage of the word "sabre" also evokes an almost medieval image in the minds of the reader-this could perhaps be seen as a subtle indictment that the idea of war is an archaic idea.
• Ballad form (form)

  • The poem is composed in a ballad form, a form historically used in order to demarcate (establish) events that were to be commemorated and memorialised.

  • This shows how highly Tennyson regards the sacrifice of the soldiers; he understood the futility of their sacrifice, despite not being able to be brazen about this, hence uses his ballad to immortalise their sacrifice for years to come
• Regular stanza length (form)

  Tennyson varies his stanza length masterfully, never truly allowing the reader to settle in or feel

  any sense of consistency.

  The varied stanza length also allows for a sense of chaos to be communicated to the reader, mimicking how the soldiers were being shot at by an enemy they could not fairly counter
• Rhyme scheme (form)

  The poem uses an irregular rhyme scheme with rhyming couplets between indented lines.

  • The couplets create a repetitive sense of inevitability, similar to how no matter how valiant the charge, the outcome of it was decided beforehand.

  • The presence of an irregular rhyme scheme also adds chaos into the poem, leaving it unable to settle into rhythm, and thusly mimicking the chaos of battle.
• Dactylic diameter (structure)

  • Tennyson uses Dactylic Dimeter (long syllable followed by two short syllables) in order to mimic the sound of a horse's hooves whilst running into battle.

  • The repetition of this thrusts the reader into the heat of battle, making them feel the charge

  • It also communicates how the soldiers have no choice but to follow the charge and run into battle; the long syllable may represent their lull and reluctancy, yet the two short syllables highlighting how they had to fight anyways.
• Endstops (structure)


  Each stanza ends with punctuation, exacerbating the idea of finality.

  The stanzas are not ended with enjambment as this does not accurately reflect how the soldier's fate was finalised and their death was inevitable.
• Similarities with Exposure - Themes

  Both criticise military leadership. In TCOTLB, Tennyson subtly criticises those who had put the Light Brigade in the position that there were in. This showing how the privileged elite are so far removed from their decisions that they had the ability to gamble with lives and make poor decisions that jeopardised lives with little to no consequences for themselves. In ExposureX Owen criticises the indifference of the authorities to the soldiers on the front line, highlighting how they feel isolated and forgotten by those who were meant to protect and care for them. Both also portray repetition of suffering. In TCOTLB,

  Tennyson highlights how the suffering of soldiers and the harsh realities ot war are unlikely to ever truly end, rather that pain and suffering are destined to repeat themselves Exposure voices a similar sentiment in that the pain and suffering of war are destined to repeat themselves and that the pain that the soldiers feel during war is almost endless
• Differences with Exposure - Themes

  Tennyson cannot clearly show the harsh realities of war as he was the Poet Laureate at the time, Owen had no such obligation and was therefore much more visceral in his imagery
• Similarities with Exposure - Form

  Both use irregular rhyming in order to portray a sense of unease and chaos.

  In CLB Tennyson employs irregular rhyming in order to show the chaos of war and the madness felt by the soldiers whereas Exposure uses half rhymes in order to portray the soldier's nervousness and unease.
• Similarities with Exposure - Structure

  Use of anaphora. In CLB the Anaphora is used to highlight the obedience and sheer bravery of the soldiers whilst highlighting the repetitive nature of their misery whereas in Exposure it jus highlights the never-ending nature of conflict
• Differences with Exposure - Structure

  Exposure has a much greater use of the Caesura in order to show how the soldiers are faces with chaos and are barred from returning home.
• Differences with Exposure - Context

  Exposure writes about WWl from the first hand experience of a soldier whereas CLB is a second hand account based on an eyewitness account. This makes Exposure feel more hard- hitting and visceral
• Similarities with BC - Themes

  Both criticise authority. TCOTLB criticises the orders that put the soldiers in such peril with no regard for their safety. BC shows how soldiers are used as pawns in war with no individuality for themselves and no means of protecting themselves.
• Differences with BC - Themes

  In CLB the soldiers are portrayed as brave with valour being the overarching emotion. The soldiers are seen as great for their sacrifices whereas in BC an emphasis is shown on the preservation of

  human life at all costs.
• Similarities with BC - Form

  Usage of rhyme scheme is similar with both poets utilising irregular or no rhyme scheme in order to communicate chaos and disharmony.

  This never allowing the soldier to settle in, rather just forcing them to constantly change anc adapt.

  Usage of irregular stanza length means that the reader cannot settle into a rhythm, rather they are forced to feel every step of the charge
• Differences with BC - Structure

  BC has a greater use of Enjambment, perhaps showing how in the heat of battle every moment blends into the next for the soldier. with the entire experience being a blur.

  COLB, had more end stops to represent the finality of their death.
• Similarities with BC - Context

  Both poets never fought

  in the wars they wrote about.

  Both focus on a charge made by soldiers as a direct result of orders

  given.
• Differences with BC - Context

  CLB is in the Crimean war, BC is in WW1