Charge of the light brigade

• "half a league, half a league"


  rep. reflects galloping of hooves ~ gives impression horses are unstoppable
• "Death"


  sinister ~ reader is warned something bad will happen
• "Rode the six hundred"


  - Repetition ~ builds tension and drags out the charge.

  - one group with one purpose
• "someone has blunder'd"


  soldiers realise the order was a mistake but do what they're told as it's their duty to obey orders ~ poet respects them for this
• "theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die"


  rhyme & rep. ~ emphasise soldier's obedience & sense of duty despite knowing the will die
• "Valley of death"


  biblical reference, allusion to their bravery but also how they follow their leaders without questioning- as if they are god 'the lord is my shepherd' ~ makes poem solemn & significant
• "canon to right of them"


  rep. ~ reflects how they are surrounded by enemy and replicates sound of gunfire
• "shot and shell"


  Sibilance ~ ammunition flying towards them.
• "jaws of Death... mouth of Hell"


  personification ~ monsters the soldiers can't escape from ~ emphasises bravery
• "flash'd"


  Onomatopoeia

  Mirrors the speed they move at & creates powerful image of cavalry using swords
• "all the world wondered"


  - people marvelled at their bravery

  - or wondered why they had been sent on the charge
• "Charging", "Plunged", "Reel'd"


  Several lines begin with verbs, emphasising the action and increasing the pace of the poem.
• "Sabre stroke shatter'd and sunder'd"


  sibilance ~ reflects violence & viciousness
• "but not / Not the six hundred"


  - some have been killed

  - creates stuttering effect as if speaker is upset
• "Volleyed and thundered"


  powerful onomatopoeic verbs suggest noise from canons
• "horse and hero fell"


  sense of admiration touched with sadness ~ evokes emotion
• Repetition of "left of"


  reminds us lives have been lost, evokes sadness in reader
• "when can their glory fade?"


  rhetorical question ~ express everlasting glory for those who die in battle, challenhes reader