‘POWER AND CONFLICT’ POETRY
‘THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE’ BY ALFRED LORD
TENNYSON: Page 78
YOUR STARTER: MAKING INFERENCES FROM ART
Consider these paintings. What words best
describe the paintings? What big ideas are
explored in the paintings? How are the soldiers
in these paintings portrayed? Make notes on
your sheet and be prepared to share your ideas.
TODAY’S KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Can I read, understand and respond to the text?
2. Can I analyse language and structure, explaining WHY the writer has used a particular technique and its effect?
3. Can I discuss the social and historical context of the poem?
CONTEXT: SUMMARISE EACH BULLET POINT
- The Crimean War was fought between Britain and Imperial Russia from 18531856.
- For the first time in history, newspapers carried eye-witness reports as well
as detailing not just the triumphs of war but the mistakes and horrors as well.
- The most significant moment in the Crimea came during the Battle of
Balaclava. An order given to the British army's cavalry division (known as the
Light Brigade) was misunderstood and 600 cavalrymen ended charging down a
narrow valley straight into the fire of Russian cannons.
- Over 150 British soldiers were killed, and more than 120 were wounded. At
home the news of the disaster was a sensation and a nation that had until
then embraced British military exploits abroad began to question the
politicians and generals who led them.
TODAY’S KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Can I read, understand and respond to the text?
2. Can I analyse language and structure, explaining WHY the writer has used a particular technique and its effect?
3. Can I discuss the social and historical context of the poem?
LET’S READ THE POEM
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.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to 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.
Flash’d all their sabres bare,
Flash’d as they turn’d 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.
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.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honor the charge they made!
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
The poet: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and “The
Charge of the Light Brigade”
• Patriotic Victorian poet (Number 1 poet during the Victorian times)
• His poems were written for a wide audience
• “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is written in ballad form
• It has an regular structure
Repetition of short phrase.
Creates speed. 1 league =
3.4 miles (5.47 kilometres).
½ = 1.7 miles (2.73 km)
Poet establishes a very deliberate pace
And rhythm (like galloping horses)
1.
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.
Why is this line repeated throughout?
What could the effect be? What could it
mimic?
Military rhythm: dactyl dimeter
Metaphorical phrase.
Repeated throughout.
Creates emotion.
Foreboding – why? Also,
highly religious (Biblical
allusion – Psalm 23. Also
reference to David and
Goliath: Both take place in
a valley and the underdog
taking on a powerful enemy
Who is ‘he’?
Who the speaker is, is kept vague.
(probably one of the officers in
charge)
By not naming the person he
criticised the people in charge the
people in charge who send the
Light Brigade on this suicidal
mission
By not naming the person
he criticised the people in
charge the people in charge
who send the Light Brigade
on this suicidal mission
3 Rhyming lines
sums up Army life!
(Follow orders
without
question!)
Order is repeated = no going
back = foreboding.
2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Repetition: Easier to remember
Question that the reader
may ask. Answer below.
Shows the courage = they
knew yet still attacked!
Those lines again.
More foreboding…
left
Repetition: Gives intensity
(The canons were all around the Light Brigade
Now they start dying en
masse…
Adverb. Shows what?
3.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to 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.
Sense of Sight:
repetition to show clear
and horrific image!
right
F
R
O
N
T
5 Senses (Sight & Sound) for
powerful effective imagery or
destruction reinforced with
Sibilant –S sounds
2 Vivid metaphors
(make threat tangible)
Vivid & brutal image of
hand-to-hand combat
Seems like
they’ve
succeeded!
Reality is brutal – massive
losses; no success.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd 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.
Split apart
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
Stark reality of what they’ve
done – totally outnumbered.
Good use of imagery (senses).
Effective rhyming to show
bravery
Repetition of –S sound =
Sibilance to show their effect on
the Russians
Sibilance is the repetition of letter sounds
that have a hushing or hissing quality
left
5.
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.
right
F
R
O
N
T
Same structure and effect as Stanza 3.
But, now they have to get back!!!
The army has turned around
Admiration and sadness here
A cry of emotion? Sums up what
the reader is thinking – WHY???
Rhetorical question = why use
it?
The purpose is to remember
what happened
6.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made,
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
2 Imperative verbs
commanding us to
‘honour’ and
therefore,
remember them
A fitting adjective to
describe them.
Poet’s voice?
Rhetorical question :a
question asked in order to
create a dramatic effect
or to make a point rather
than to get an answer.
‘glory’
‘honour’
‘Noble’ = 3 highly positive
words used about ‘the
600’
A note on Structure
• The poem is very regular in its structure, with several examples of
repetition.
• ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a narrative poem - each of the
stanzas progress the story of the failed attack.
YOUR TASK: FIND IT – HIGHLIGHT IT – ANNOTATE IT
1.
Lines 1 and 2 – Highlight the language device used
in these lines. Name the device and explain its
effect.
2.
Line 3 – Highlight ‘Valley of Death’ and discuss its
connotations. EXTRA CHALLENGE: How is religion
alluded to in this line?
7. Line 13. Highlight this line. Why do you think it is
slightly indented? What effect does this have?
Line 4. Highlight this line. How does Tennyson
present the Light Brigade as a collective force
here? Why do you think he does this?
8. Lines 13 to 15. Highlight the anaphora in this stanza.
Explain why you think it has been used. What is
Tennyson suggesting about the men?
Lines 5 and 6. Highlight the imperatives in these
lines. What is the effect of these? What effect
does the punctuation have?
8. Line 15. What is required of the men in the brigade?
3.
4.
5.
Lines 5 and 6. Circle the words that belong to a
militaristic semantic field. What do these words
tell us about this battle?
6. Line 10. Highlight the language device used in this
line and label it. Explain what the question is asking
and why Tennyson includes it. What is he saying about
the men in the brigade?
9. Lines 13 to 15. How does Tennyson create a sense
that the soldiers have no control over their fate.
10. Line 17. Highlight ‘six hundred’. Why do you think
Tennyson keeps repeating this?
YOUR TASK: FIND IT – HIGHLIGHT IT – ANNOTATE IT
11. Lines 18 to 20 – Highlight these lines. What device
does Tennyson use to portray the Russian
bombardment? Explain as annotations in your
anthology.
12. Lines 18-20 – Which words in these lines continue
to portray the soldiers as an unstoppable force.
13. Line 22. Highlight the verbs and discuss their
connotations. How do they present the noises and
dangers of the battlefield?
14. Line 22. Highlight this line. Which device has been
used? Why? Explain the effect as annotations in the
anthology.
15. Line 23. Highlight the adverb and explain how it
presents the soldiers in the battle.
16. Lines 24 and 25. Identify the two language devices
used in this line and explain their effect.
17. Lines 27 to 30. How is the power of the British
presented here? Highlight language used and make
notes in your anthology.
18. Lines 30 to 37. Highlight all the verbs in this
section. What are the connotations of these verbs?
How are the soldiers acting and what does it tell you
about their experience?
19. Line 37 to 38. What has happened to the ‘noble six
hundred’?
20. Line 39 to 43. Identify the major language devices
and word classes used here. Explain their effect as
annotations. EXTRA CHALLENGE: Look for where these
devices have occurred before. Why repeat them?
CONSIDER THIS: DACTYLIC DIMETER
Now for the meter. This part of the poem's form is definitely less complicated, once you get the hang of it. The first thing
we'll look for in each line is which syllables are emphasized. We call that the ‘stress.’ In general, there are two main
stresses in each line of the poem. For example, in Stanza 2, the stressed syllables in bold:
"Forward, the | Light Brigade!"
Was there a | man dismayed?
Not though the | soldier knew
Someone had | blundered.
Theirs not to | make reply,
Theirs not to | reason why,
Theirs but to | do and die.
See the pattern there? The stressed syllables come at the beginning and in the middle of the line. They are always
followed by two unstressed (or less stressed) syllables. Try saying that first line out loud: "For-ward, the/ Light Bri-gade!"
Hear that rhythm? DUM-da-da DUM-da-da.
TODAY’S KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Can I read, understand and respond to the text?
2. Can I analyse language and structure, explaining WHY the writer has used a particular technique and its effect?
3. Can I discuss the social and historical context of the poem?
YOUR TASK: FIND IT – HIGHLIGHT IT – ANNOTATE IT
21. Line 44. What device has been used here? Why is it
used? What does Tennyson want to draw the reader’s
attention to?
26. Line 55. Highlight the adjective in this sentence.
Discuss its connotations.
27. The entire poem. What could you say about the
22. Line 48 to 49. Tennyson still continues to describe structure of the poem? Why six stanzas? Why are some
the men as an unstoppable force. He still refers to
stanzas longer than others. Discuss as annotations in
them as ‘six hundred’ even though many have died.
your anthology.
Why do you think he does this?
23. Lines 50 to 55. How has the tone changed here in
this final stanza? Why does it change?
24. Line 51 to 52. What is the speaker saying about the
charge on reflection?
25. Line 53 to 54. Highlight the imperatives Tennyson
uses and explain why he uses them. What does he
want this readers to do?
CONSIDER THIS: DACTYLIC DIMETER
See how we've split the lines up with slashes?
In poetry, those little groups of syllables between the
slashes are called ‘feet’. When the ‘feet’ look like this – with
a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables –
we call that a dactyl. When there are two feet per line,
that's called dimeter. So the full, fancy English teacher
name for the rhythm of this poem is dactylic dimeter.
Perhaps Tennyson uses this rhythm to mirror the
thundering of the hooves of the horses. It never falters, just
like the soldiers.
TODAY’S KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Can I read, understand and respond to the text?
2. Can I analyse language and structure, explaining WHY the writer has used a particular technique and its effect?
3. Can I discuss the social and historical context of the poem?
TO FINISH: CONSIDER THIS
IS THE POEM PRO OR ANTI-WAR?
NEGATIVE PORTRAYAL OF WAR
- ‘valley of Death’
- ‘Someone had blundered.’
GLORIFYING WAR
- ‘Valley of death’
- ‘Boldly they rode and well’
Find quotations that fit into each category. Be
prepared to explain whether you think ‘The Charge of
the Light Brigade’ is a pro or anti-war poem.
TODAY’S KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Can I read, understand and respond to the text?
2. Can I analyse language and structure, explaining WHY the writer has used a particular technique and its effect?
3. Can I discuss the social and historical context of the poem?
Worksheet 20
•Complete Worksheet 20
•Check the answers
Write your own war poem
• For your next classwork assignment, write your OWN
poem criticizing OR glorifying war.
• You can take war as a general term or think about a
real war
• Use DACTYLIC DIMETER and military rhythm
• Use allusions and alliterations for extra points
• Perform your poem in front of the class