3- Column Notes
“The Charge of the Light Brigade”
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Literary Focus:
What poetic devices can you
identify?
ie: repetition, metaphor,
simile, imagery, etc
Close read:
# the lines, underline main ideas,
circle important words, box
unknown/ confusing words
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
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.
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;
Personal
Response/Thematic Ideas:
What is your reaction to
the lines/situation? What is
Tennyson saying about the
theme of courage?
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 wondered.
Honour the charge they made,
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
League: a measure of distance, usually about three miles.
Blunder’d (blundered): to move or act blindly, stupidly, or without direction or guidance.
Volley’d (volleyed): to fly or be discharged together.
Battery: a tactical artillery unit.
Cossack: a person living in the southern part of Russia and forming an elite group of horsemen.
Sunder’d (sundered): to become separated.
In a short paragraph, explain what Tennyson is saying about courage. How does he define
courage in this poem? Use a line from the poem as evidence and explain how the line proves the
poet’s definition of courage.
“Courage”
Anne Sexton
Literary Focus:
What poetic devices
can you identify?
ie: repetition,
metaphor, simile,
imagery, etc
Close read:
# the lines, underline main ideas, circle
important words, box unknown/
confusing words
It is in the small things we see it.
The child's first step,
as awesome as an earthquake.
The first time you rode a bike,
wallowing up the sidewalk.
The first spanking when your heart
went on a journey all alone.
When they called you crybaby
or poor or fatty or crazy
and made you into an alien,
you drank their acid
and concealed it.
Later,
if you faced the death of bombs and
bullets
you did not do it with a banner,
you did it with only a hat to
cover your heart.
You did not fondle the weakness
inside you
though it was there.
Your courage was a small coal
that you kept swallowing.
If your buddy saved you
and died himself in so doing,
then his courage was not courage,
it was love; love as simple as shaving
soap.
Later,
if you have endured a great despair,
then you did it alone,
getting a transfusion from the fire,
picking the scabs off your heart,
then wringing it out like a sock.
Next, my kinsman, you powdered
Personal
Response/Thematic
Ideas:
What is your reaction to
the lines/situation? What
is Tennyson saying
about the theme of
courage?
your sorrow,
you gave it a back rub
and then you covered it with a blanket
and after it had slept a while
it woke to the wings of the roses
and was transformed.
Later,
when you face old age and its natural
conclusion
your courage will still be shown in the
little ways,
each spring will be a sword you'll
sharpen,
those you love will live in a fever of
love,
and you'll bargain with the calendar
and at the last moment
when death opens the back door
you'll put on your carpet slippers
and stride out.
In a short paragraph, explain what Sexton is saying about courage. How does she define
courage in this poem? Use a line from the poem as evidence and explain how the line proves the
poet’s definition of courage.