The Charge of the Light Brigade Flashcards
Which meter and rhythm are used?
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” is made up of six stanzas of varying lengths, marked by Roman numerals. Each line is in dimeter, which means it has two stressed syllables; moreover, each stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables, making the rhythm dactylic. It’s hard to write a poem in dactyls. Few people have done it. But Tennyson chose this meter for a specific and important reason: it sounds like galloping horses. The meter captures the syncopated “clip-clop” of a cavalry charge, as hundreds of horses race toward a target.
Why the type of rhythm is important in this poem?
The use of “falling” rhythm, in which the stress is on the first beat of each metrical unit, and then “falls off” for the rest of the length of the meter, is appropriate in a poem about the devastating fall of the British brigade.
Which rhyme does it use?
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” does not have a set rhyme scheme, but it does use rhyme often. The poem thus feels a bit uneven, even chaotic—with rhymes appearing suddenly and disappearing just as suddenly. This is intentional. The speaker uses rhyme in this chaotic way to capture the chaos of the cavalry charge the poem describes.
What does the poem celebrate?
The poem is celebrating two different things at once. On the one hand, the speaker praises the bravery of the cavalrymen, their willingness to ride into a terrifying and horrifying battle. On the other, the speaker celebrates their obedience and commitment to military hierarchy, their willingness to execute an order even if they know it’s a “blunder.” In this way, the poem suggests that heroism consists of both bravery and adherence to duty at once. And it subtly suggests that the blame for this military disaster does not lie with the cavalrymen themselves: they were exemplary soldiers.
Instead, the blame rests with the commanders who sent them on a suicidal mission. Though Tennyson himself supported the Crimean War, the poem might encourage readers to question the military leaders responsible for such a waste of life. But whether the reader leaves the poem in favor of the war or against it, the poem is more concerned with praising the soldiers themselves: celebrating their sacrifice, their bravery, and their commitment to their country.
