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charge of the light brigade - Coggle Diagram
charge of the light brigade
tones
energetic
tragic
haunting
themes
conflict
suffering
reality of war
patriotism
context
As Poet Laureate, he had a responsibility to inspire the nation and portray the war in a positive light: propaganda.
-Although Tennyson glorifies the soldiers who took part, he also draws attention to the fact that a commander had made a mistake: “Someone had blunder’d”.
This was a controversial point to make in Victorian times when blind devotion to power was expected
content, meaning and purpose
Published six weeks after a disastrous battle against the Russians in the (unpopular) Crimean War
-Describes a cavalry charge against Russians who shoot at the lightly-armed British with cannon from three sides of a long valley
Of the 600 hundred who started the charge, over half were killed, injured or taken prisoner.
It is a celebration of the men’s courage and devotion to their country, symbols of the might of the British Empire.
language
-“Into the valley of Death”: Biblical imagery portrays war as a supremely powerful, or spiritual, experience.
jaws of Death” and “mouth of Hell”: presents war as an animal that consumes its victims.
-“Honour the Light Brigade/Noble six hundred”: language glorifies the soldiers, even in death. The ‘six
hundred’ become a celebrated and prestigious group.
-“shot and shell”: sibilance creates whooshing sounds
of battle.
form and structure
This is a ballad, a form of poetry to remember historical events – we should remember their courage.
6 verses, each representing 100 men who took part.
-First stanza tightly structured, mirroring the cavalry formation. Structure becomes awkward to reflect the chaos of battle and the fewer men returning alive
-Dactylic dimeter (HALF-a leaugue / DUM-de-de) mirrors the sound of horses galloping and increases the poem’s pace.
-Repetition of ‘the six hundred’ at the end of each stanza (epistrophe) emphasises huge loss.