The charge of the light Brigade

• summary

  celebrates an act of bravery and sacrifice- a suicide mission during the crimean war. Tennyson’s poem argues the willingness of the soldiers to sacrifice themselves- without questioning their orders.
• context

  the poem centres on a military command which cost the lives of 113 men and injured 143 others. Took place during the crimean war.
• Themes

  • admiration
  • violence of war
  • bravery
  • reality of war
  • death
• message

  emotive poem that praises the brave, heroic British soldiers whose moral duty was to fight for justice
• form and structure

  • six stanzas varying in length
  • written in dactylic diameter which creates a falling rhythm which gives the poem a plodding and somber sound.
  • 3rd person
• “rode on the 600”

  • affirms the fact they were carrying out an order even though it was wrong
  • rode courageously forward towards their own deaths
  • repetition at the end of the 1st 3 stanzas which adds to the sense of foreboding and emphasises the number of soldiers
• “cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon behind them”

  • repetition demonstrates the unrelenting assault
  • powerful verbs demonstrate the violence and aggression the soldiers faced
  • anaphora used to emphasise the inequality of the battle. One is a team of 600 on horses with swords the other is an army with a load of cannons
• “into the jaws of death into the mouth of hell rode the 600”

  • no hesitance, brave, courageous, fearless
  • The reader can imagine the brave young men riding with their heads held high into a battle they know they were gonna lose
  • metaphor- creates the impression there’s no escape once entered
  • “jaws” has claustrophobic connotations implying the soldiers will get eaten up by bullets