![]() ![]() Tennyson explores notions of pride and valour in ‘honour the charge they made’.The valley is personified using ‘the jaws of Death’ and the ‘mouth of Hell’.Sibilance in ‘storm’d at’ with shot’ reminds us of the sounds of battle.The battlefield is vividly described through the verbs: ‘volley’d’ and ‘thunder’d’.Biblical references provide a sombre but religious tone.The battle is described as ‘the valley of Death’, referencing Psalm 23 of the Bible.The poem describes historical milestones in a key battle of the Crimean War.The Charge of the Light Brigade is written in 3rd person.The poet focuses on how heroic the soldiers were and, at the end of the poem, asks that we ‘honour the charge they made’ and consider ‘when can their glory fade?’ He clearly wishes us to see the sacrifice the soldiers made as a noble one. While the battle is relayed here to the reader, it is second hand and heavily edited. Even though they are so few, the enemy ‘Reel’d from the sabre stroke’ showing that the British forces fought well and were aggressive attackers. The men reach the opposing forces and are ‘sabring’ and ‘charging’ and ‘plunged in the battery-smoke’. The valley is described in terms of monsters with ‘the jaws of Death’ and the ‘mouth of Hell’. ![]() Their advance is portrayed as brave and noble. The sibilance here reminds us of the sounds of the bullets flying through the air while these men only had sabres to advance with. The cannon ‘volley’d and thunder’d’ and the men were ‘storm’d at’ with shot. ![]() ![]() The sounds and actions of the battle are related in a series of strong verbs. This gives the battle a solemn but almost religious tone. The field of battle is referred to as ‘the valley of Death’, referencing Psalm 23 of the Bible. The soldiers only know that it is their duty to ‘do and die’. The misunderstanding in the commands is mentioned in the second stanza but only briefly. Of the 666 men who took part in this charge, 271 were casualties (injured, captured or killed). Although they knew they were doomed, as the Russians had guns against the cavalry’s sabres (a type of sword), the brigade did as they had been told and attacked. On 25th of October, 1854 a lightly armoured cavalry unit received a garbled message to attack the Russian forces. The events had been reported in the press six weeks before Tennyson’s version appeared. It relates a dramatic version of events of a key battle in the Crimean War. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is written in the third person. The Charge of the Light Brigade Poem was written in 1854.The “light brigade” references lightly-armoured cavalry soldiers.The Charge of the Light Brigade details a key battle in the Crimean War.It is a tribute to the British soldiers of the Light Brigade who died in the hopeless attack against a battery of Russian guns. The poem was written by Alfred Tennyson in 1854 when he was Poet Laureate of Britain. The poem deals with the historical events of a key battle in the Crimean War, in which the British fought against the Russians for territory in the Crimea (north Black Sea region, now part of Russia).Ī ‘brigade’ is a small section of an army and it is called a ‘Light Brigade’ in the poem because it describes cavalry soldiers (riding horses) who are only lightly armoured and armed. Tennyson’s work came to define the Victorian era.In Memoriam prompted Tennyson to become Poet Laureate.Famous works include: Claribel, Marianne, The Lady of Shallot and The Charge of the Light Brigade.Alfred Tennyson (1809 – 1892) was an English poet born in Lincolnshire.He was the Poet Laureate for most of Queen Victoria’s reign and his writing came to define Victorian poetry. This post required him to write on themes of national importance and he wrote about the Great Exhibition and the death of Wellington, as well as the Crimean War.Īlfred Tennyson was the first man to be raised to a peerage because of his writing, accepting a baronetcy in 1883. In 1850, following the release of his longer poem, ‘In Memoriam A.H.H.’, Tennyson was named Poet Laureate. Some of his more famous poems include: ‘Claribel’, ‘Marianne’, ‘The Lady of Shallot’ and ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’. Tennyson is known predominantly for his shorter lyric poems and often chose mythological or ancient stories as the basis for his poems. He was the son of a vicar and returned home from Cambridge to care for his mother and sisters after the death of his father in 1831. ![]()
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