Form and Structure

• This is a ballad, a form of poetry to remember historical events – we should remember their courage.
• 6 verses, each representing 100 men who took part.
• First stanza tightly structured, mirroring the cavalry formation. Structure becomes awkward to reflect the chaos of battle and the fewer men returning alive.
• Dactylic dimeter (HALF-a league / DUMde-de) mirrors the sound of horses galloping and increases the poem’s pace.
• Repetition of ‘the six hundred’ at the end of each stanza (epistrophe) emphasises huge loss