Week Ten

Reading Two: The Charge of the Light Brigade

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.

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.

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.

4.

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.

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.

6.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
 All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
 Noble six hundred.

            “Cannon to right of them/Cannon to left of them/Cannon in front of them” is one of the many moving segments within the poem, “From the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Lord Tennyson Alfred. The poem is a story about a battle that lays down to death an army of 600 brave men that are led by a commander that is making all the wrong decisions. The speaker of the poem is a young man who was at the battle yet occupying the side lines of the battle field as a writer. The speaker is very descriptive in his use of language and uses direct quotes that the commanding officer yelled during the battle; “‘Forward the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!’ he said:” (Lord Tennyson Alfred). The speaker gives the audience a video in the reader’s mind of how the battle was played out on the battle field through imagery words to quotes of the commander.

I chose this poem, because the poem exhibits the courage and bravery that a army of men exalted even when they knew they were going to meet their death.