While this was happening, the horses and the heroes that rode them fell down dead. (Stanza 5) They faced cannons and explosives all around: to the right, left, and in front of them, making huge thundering noises as they flew at the soldiers (a repetition of how it felt to charge into battle as they ride away). Then, they rode back again – but not the whole six hundred. The whole world was stunned at their brave efforts. (Stanza 4) The soldiers raised their sabres, which flashed in the light, they attacked the gunners and broke through the ranks of Cossacks and Russians, fighting them the whole time – plunging through the smoke of the cannons, striking them with their sabres. Though they were stormed, they rode onwards bravely – into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell. (Stanza 3) They faced cannons and explosives all around: to the right, left, and in front of them, making huge thundering noises as they flew at the soldiers.
It was not the soldiers’ place to answer back to the captain, nor was it their place to think about the reason behind the orders: They were just there to do what they were told, and die.
(Stanza 2) The speaker asks, was anyone afraid or thinking of running away? No, even though the soldiers knew someone must have made a mistake with their orders as they were clearly no match for the cannons. (Stanza 1) The Light Brigade charge forward on their horses, all six hundred men riding closer and closer to the ‘jaws of Death’ as they are riding into a battle they cannot hope to win – a man, presumably a captain, shouts “Forward, the light brigade! Charge towards the enemy’s guns!”. (See context for more info) League – in old-fashioned terms, a league is a way of measuring distance (one league = roughly 3 miles) Dismayed – upset, saddened, disheartened Blundered – made a mistake Make reply – to answer back To reason why – to think logically about the reasons why something happened But – only Volleyed – launched projectiles (in this case cannonballs) Shot and shell – cannon balls (spherical projections) and exploding projectiles called ‘shells’ – both types of artillery are used to shoot at targets – either people, other weapons, or buildings – from a long-range Gunners – a member of the armed forces who shoots guns Cossacks – EastSlavic people known for having a warrior culture, Cossacks live mostly in the lower parts of Russia and Ukraine Battery-smoke – a battery is a large number of guns grouped together, so battery-smoke is the cloud of smoke that these guns make when fired Reeled – staggering back violently STORY/SUMMARY They were called ‘light’ because they wore almost no armour, as being light-weighted made them faster on the horses. VOCABULARYĬharge – in this case, a noun meaning ‘the act of charging forward, such as on horseback in battle’ The Light Brigade – the British light cavalry force, soldiers on horseback who rode into battle using lances (long, sharp poles) and sabers (swords) for weapons.
#Charge of the light brigade poem full#
Thanks for reading! If you find this page helpful, you can take a look at our full poetry course.Ĭheck out what other poems we have analysed from the AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology by clicking here. It’s particularly useful for the following exam boards: AQA, CIE, OCR, WJEC, Edexcel, CCEA. This analysis is tailored towards GCSE / iGCSE, A Level and above (age 14+). It’s a complex poem, asking us to question our beliefs about war – are the soldiers stupid for following orders that didn’t make sense, or honourable because they fight with strength and conviction even when there’s almost no hope? Read the poem and decide for yourself. In some ways, we could say that he turns a defeat into a victory, concluding that these soldiers are a testament to their nation’s character and that we should all honour and remember them and their noble sacrifice.
Tennyson acknowledges the mistake of the orders, without diminishing his respect for the soldiers that fought bravely against all odds in the face of cannons and certain death. Yet, the context was that these soldiers were charging into a battle they had no hope of winning, charging to almost certain death on orders that had been given by someone higher up who ‘blundered’, made a mistake that cost hundreds of lives. The atmosphere is honourable, brave, and admirable. ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ is such a perfect, powerful poem – it’s full of strength and momentum, that captures the movement of horses as they charge forwards into battle.
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