Charge of the Light Brigade Flashcards
About
The poem recounts the mistaken attack of the English horses against Russian guns. The soldiers obeyed suicidal orders to charge in and out of a highly protected trench. The poem asks the reader to remember and honour the dead.
Themes (6)
- Power of nature: - Exposure: Power of the weather, nature
- Pride: Kamikaze: pride, duty in war
- Power of humans:
- Effects of conflict
- Identity
- Reality of conflict and Identity: - Bayonet Charge: representation of a soldier at war, Remains: representation of a soldier at war
“valley of death”
Power of humans – ability to kill all the men, also religion (man’s belief)
It is a repeated phrase
People at the time (Christians) were very religious, use of religious imagery from the bible gave them comfort that God was with the soldiers
Psalm by kind David: I fear no evil as God is with me
Foreboding the deaths of the 6 hundred men
They are going to a place of grave danger
“Someone had blunder’d”
Power of humans to make one error to kill 600
Reality of conflict
“Someone” – reflects the error is unknown, not blaming anyone to make them feel guilty or embarrass them, not focusing on the mistake but instead the nobility of the men.
Only on one line, it was clearly an unintentional error and that is not the role of the poet laureate, focus on the positive not the negative
“theirs not top make reply”, “theirs not to reason why”, “theirs but to do and die”
Identity
Repetition of theirs:
Must obey their orders even though they knew someone had made a mistake but it wasn’t their place to argue or question as they are inferior to their commanders
Didn’t retreat = blind patriotism and as a result, the poet is praising them
“cannon to the right of them”, “cannon to the left of them”, “cannon in front of them”
Reality of conflict
They are surrounded on all sides by the stronger opposition and can only retreat to reach safety
Highlights extent of the danger they face and that they can’t go further without certain death but instead they continue and refuse to give up
Also repeated in stanza 5 but “behind them” replaces “in front of them”
“into the jaws of Death”, “into the mouth of hell”
Reality of conflict
Personification, eaten or crushed – trapped, no escape, inevitable death, “eaten alive”, further displays the horrors the soldiers endured – reinforces absolute patriotism
Hell = more religious imagery, burning fires + pain but these people didn’t deserve it, sympathy for them and respect for their nobility
“when can their glory fade?”, “honour the charge they made”
Identity, Pride
Makes the soldiers seem immortal in the minds of ALT and the people at home, unbelievable patriotism and in awe of them
ALT as the Poet Laureate is creating light of the sad events and encouraging the nations mood to remember the positive instead of the negative
“honour” repetition
Identity, Pride
Use imperative of “honour” to command the reader to respect the noble men
Concludes the poem with the main message of positivity not blame or regret
Structure (4)
- Dactylic dimeter: long syllable followed by 2 short syllables gives it rhyme and rhythm, enables a memorable tune – tune = jolly not sad, depressed which reflects ALT’s positive aims
- Why rhythm: charging, galloping on the horses, we are moving with the soldiers
- Why rhyme: predictable nature to the poem, shows it was inevitable that the soldiers would die
- 6 stanzas = 600 soldiers, like a tribute to them
Context (3)
- Alfred Lord Tennyson was the Poet Laureate (poet that represents the nation) and writes about events at the time such as wars or deaths as a form of recognition and had a high status
- The Crimean War was from 1853-1856 and this poem is about the battle of Balaclava between England and Russia
- It was known as the first media war as it was the first world-wide publicised war with newspaper coverage
