charge of the light brigade

• 'someone had blunder'd:'

  • breaks the meter of the poem replicating the mistakes made by the officer at the battle
  • made a mistake
  • tennyson had to subtly critique the military because he was the poet laureat
• 'jaws of death'

  • like they are trapped with no way out
  • surrounded on 3 sides
  • personification
  • knew the peril they were in
• 'when can their glory fade?'

  • on one hand celebrates their heroic sacrifise but als critices their blind trust in authority
  • their death was futile
  • irony, he cant openly criticize because he was poet laureate
  • they'll never be forgoten
• 'theirs not to make reply'

  • the soldiers followed orders without question
  • critizising the officers who gave the comand
  • celebrating the soldiers patritism
• 'not the six hundred'

  • emphasising the number of soldiers at risk
  • exagerates the critisism of the officer
• Context:

  • crimean war, involved economic intrets of many countrys
  • wrong comand sent at the battle of Balaclave sending over 150 soldiers to thier death
  • Tennyson read about the "charge of the light brigade" in the newspaper and was horrified by this
• themes:

  • effects of conflict
  • reality of conflict
  • identity
• structure:

  • tells the story of the battle in chronological order
  • charge of the men in the first 3 stanzas
  • battle in the 4th stanza
  • retreat in the 5th satnza
  • shorter final stanza summarising the stoty of the battle