The Charge of the Light Brigade Flashcards
Half a league
In Media Res - Repetition of distance emphasises how far they have left to go, painting them as vulnerable and exposed
Rode the six hundred.
Repetition of numerical focus emphasises the number of soldiers lost
he said:
Reported speech reflects loyalty and a sense of duty
Was there a man dismay’d?
Rhetorical question implies that some soldiers are questioning their motivation.
Some one had blunder’d
Foreshadows their military mistake
valley of Death
Biblical allusion foreshadows their deaths
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Repetition emphasises the chaos of artillery fire
Storm’d at with shot and shell
Sibilance creates a sinister stone and reflects the violence
Flash’d all their sabres bare…
Sabring the gunners there…
Fricatives and sibilance repeated highlight brutality
Sabre = Sword used in the Crimean war
When can their glory fade?
Allusion to the propganda piece
Honour the charge they made!
Imperative closes the poem with the intent of glorifying the soldiers
jaws of Death
Claustrophobic connotations of jaws emphasises how the soldiers will be eaten up/shredded by bullets.
