1. Learning Objective
• Today we are going to analyse and
interpret the poem‘The Charge of The
Light Brigade’.

2. The Charge of the Light
Brigade
By Alfred Lord Tennyson

3. First Impressions
• Rhythm
• Rhyme
• Word Choice
• Imagery
• Tone
• Mood/atmosphere
• Themes/attitudes
• Anything else?

4. October 25th 1854

5. Background and Context
• Alfred ‘Lord’ Tennyson, Poet Laureate at the time, was
said to be inspired by a newspaper report of the battle
written by William Howard Russell in The Times.
• First published on December 9th 1854, in The Examiner,
the poem tells the story of the failed charge of the British
cavalry in the Battle of Balaclava which took place
during the Crimean War (1853-1856).
• The following documentary clip is narrated by Terry
Brighton, author of Hell Riders: The Truth about the
Charge of the Light Brigade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj5bilCQEDU&feature=
player_embedded

6. Key Term: Dactylic Dimeter
• Dactyl: a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed
syllables.
• Dactylic Dimeter: Two ‘feet’ of ‘dactyls’
• Can be tapped out:
‘DUM-dum-dum/DUM-dum-dum’
• However, there are a few exceptions in the poem; such
as in the lines 2 and 8, when he adds a trochaic foot at
the end instead of a dactylic, and in lines 3 and 7 when
he uses dactylic, trochaic, and iambic feet.

7. Key Term: Anaphora
• The term "anaphora" comes from the Greek
for "a carrying up or back," and refers to a
type of parallelism created when successive
phrases or lines begin with the same words,
often resembling a litany.
• The repetition can be as simple as a single
word or as long as an entire phrase. As one of
the world’s oldest poetic techniques,
anaphora is used in much of the world’s
religious and devotional poetry, including
numerous Biblical Psalms.

8. Group Work
• In your group analyse and comment
on the stanza that has been assigned
to you.
• Write down your notes in P.E.E. form
and be ready to report your findings
back to the rest of the class.

9. First Stanza
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

10. Second Stanza
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

11. Third Stanza
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

12. Fourth Stanza
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

13. Fifth Stanza
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

14. Sixth Stanza
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

15. Conflict
• In what way does the theme of ‘conflict’
appear within the heart of the poem’s
overall message?
• First impressions are of glory, excitement
and heroism, but the underlying
message, possibly going unnoticed, is of
pointless death, caused by erroneous,
fatal stupidity and an inability to question
orders.

16. Conflict
• Does Tennyson glorify war?
• What reason would Tennyson have for
not being more critical of these
events?