The Charge of the Light Bregade -Alfred Tennyson
Context
Victorian era
Crimean War
Battle of Balaclava
Light brigade-lightly armoured soulders cavalry posh soldiers pay for horses and armour
tribute to men who died in battle
Form
narrated in third person, seems like a story
rhythm creates a fast pace initiating energy of the battle
rhyming couplets and triplets drive the poem forward but non rhyming lines break the momentum
lack of rhyme scheme hints the chaos of war
broken rhyming mirrors horses stumbling and soldiers falling
"half a league, half a league, half a league onwards"
Structure
story of the battle in chronological order
charge of the men in the first stanza
battle in fourth stanza
retreat in fifth stanza
final stanza summarises
"rode the six hundred"
"someone had blunder'd"
repetition
repletion of the "six hundred" at the end of each stanza tells us the large numbers of people who were involved
"Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them cannon in front of them"
Heroic Language
"all the world wonder'd"
double meaning-could mean that people marvelled at their bravery or confused why the had been sent on charge.
"horse and hero fell, they that had fought so well"
"when can their glory fade?"
Violent Language
uses powerful verbs and adjectives to give a strong sense of violence
uses sounds to create a vivid noisy setting
"sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd
"Volley'd and thunder'd"
lines begin with verbs "Charging", "plunged", "reel'd" emphasising the action and violence
attitudes
Admirartion
Patriotism
Horror