charge of the light brigade Flashcards
‘all in the valley of death rose the six hundred’
focus on: ‘rode’
↳ the soldiers were fearless & had no sign of hesitation (misguided loyalty??)
biblical reference: ‘valley of death’
↳ ‘as you walk thorugh the shadow of the valley of death do not fear evil’, the soldiers did not fear their deaths or the attacks of the opposition
end stopped line:
↳ finality- they have no hesitation in their decsions
‘someone had blunder’d
theirs not to make reply
their not to reason why
theirs but to do and die’
focus on: ‘blunder’d’
↳ a blunder is like a stupid/careless mistake, tennyson is criticising the government, they have blood on their hands
collective pronoun & anaphora: ‘theirs’
↳ emphasises the power of the generals, even a large group of soldiers can do nothing against them
focus on: ‘not to’
↳ authoritative & imperative, tennyson is mocking the orders of the generals
end-rhyme: ‘reply, why, die’
↳ mimicks pace of war and quick decision-making, soldiers have no doubts
plosives
↳ tennyson is passionate and critical of those who made the orders
‘storm’d at with shot and shell
boldly they rode and well,
into the jaws of death
into the mouth of hell’
focus on: ‘boldly
↳ they are heroic & ride with bravery regardless of the fact they are destined for death
end-rhyme: ‘shell’ & ‘well’
↳ the speaker speeds up with reading, reflects the increasing pace of the horse increasing
sibilance:
↳ mimics gunshots, the violence is inescapable
focus on: ‘mouth of hell’
↳ the soldiers may be going the hell, they know the orders are incorrect & are still following them, basically suicide, which is a sin
↳ hell as in eternal suffering due to the attack of the enemy
‘when can their glory fade?
o the wild charge they made!
all the world wonder’d’
rhetorical question:
↳ the speaker thinks they should be honoured and remember, he wants to readers to think about the amount of glory the soldiers deserve
focus on: ‘wild’
↳ the writer believes that the fact they were forced to follow such preposterous orders is bewildering, critical of poor decisions
↳ the first war that was reported by the media
alliteration: ‘w’
↳ the w’s elongate and slow the pace, reflects the fact that tennyson thinks their glory should be extended forever
‘honour the charge they made! honour the light brigade
noble six hundred’
anaphora: ‘honour’
↳ an imperative command from tennyson to the readers
↳ the poem was written in honour of the courageous sacrifice of the soldiers
-the british government criticised the soldiers for incompetence in battle, however tennyson shows support for them and blames the superiors
context
-historical event where misinterpreted orders resulted in 270 casualties (crimean war)
-poem celebrates bravery of soldiers
-tennyson was poet laureate at the time so couldn’t criticise the military
structure
dactylic dimeter
↳ mirrors rhythm of a horse running into battle, unrelenting rhythm implies that the soldiers have no choice but to run into battle or that they are blindly obeying orders
-irregular rhyme scheme, infers chaos
form
ballad form, used to commemorate a story for future generations to hear
who wrote charge of the light brigade?
alfred tennyson
