The Charge of the Light Brigade: Rhythm of the Charge
Six hundred horsemen ride into the guns because of a mistaken order. Learn what happens, the lines to know, how Tennyson makes you hear the gallop, and whether the poem honours the men or questions the war.
Use it, the way the marks are given
Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
Start revising freeWhat you'll cover
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1854. Six short stanzas about a real cavalry charge in a real war. • A brigade of horsemen is ordered to charge an enemy gun battery at the end of a long valley. • The order is a mistake. They ride anyway, under fire from every side. • Fewer come back than went in, and the poem ends by telling the reader how to feel about them. The question to keep asking: is this poem celebrating the men, or quietly questioning the people who sent them?
The opening lines
Complete the opening of the poem. Half a league, half a league, Half a league _____, All in the valley of _____ Rode the six _____.
Stanza by stanza
Each stanza moves the charge on one stage. Put the six stages in the order the poem gives them.
- The six hundred ride into the valley
- The order is repeated; someone has blundered, but no one questions it
- Cannon fire at them from the right, the left and in front
- They reach the guns, sabres flashing, and break through the enemy line
- They ride back through the fire, with many men and horses fallen
- The poem asks when their glory can fade and calls on us to honour them
Tennyson at work
Five terms cover most of how this poem is built. Learn the terms first; the marks come from saying what each one does to the reader, which is what the next step asks.
Name the method in the Charge
- "Half a league, half a league"
- "Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die"
- "Into the valley of Death"
- "When can their glory fade?"
- Dactylic rhythm: you hear the horses galloping
- Anaphora: duty hammered home, with no room to question
- Biblical allusion: the valley of the shadow of death in Psalm 23
- Rhetorical question: their fame is presented as everlasting
Someone had blundered
In stanza two Tennyson writes "Not tho' the soldier knew / Someone had blunder'd". What is the best reading of how he handles the mistake?
- He admits the order was a blunder, but names no one and moves straight on to the obedience and courage of the men
- He launches a direct attack on the general who gave the order, naming him
- He denies that any mistake was made and insists the charge was a clever plan
- He shows the soldiers refusing to ride once they realise the order is wrong
The ride back
This is the fifth stanza, as the survivors return. Tap the line that shows they have ridden right through and are now coming back under fire.
- Cannon to right of them,
- /
- Cannon to left of them,
- /
- Cannon behind them
- /
- Volley'd and thunder'd;
- /
Behind the poem
The charge took place at the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War, in which Britain and France fought Russia. A confused order sent the light cavalry down a valley lined with Russian guns, and many were killed or wounded. Tennyson was Poet Laureate, the official poet of the nation. He wrote the poem after reading a newspaper report of the charge, and it was published within about six weeks of the battle.
Make context count
Which sentence uses context to sharpen a point about the poem, rather than just reporting a fact?
- As Poet Laureate writing for a shocked nation, Tennyson turns a military disaster into a story of heroic duty, so the blunder is admitted but the glory is what lasts
- The charge happened at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War in October 1854
- Britain and France were fighting against Russia in the Crimean War at the time
- Tennyson wrote the poem very quickly after reading about the charge in a newspaper
Partners from the cluster
Settle on partners for the Charge before the exam. Two public-domain poems that pair well are below. Bayonet Charge and Remains are strong partners too.
Charge and Exposure
Which is the strongest comparison point between The Charge of the Light Brigade and Exposure?
- Both show soldiers suffering, but Tennyson calls on us to honour their glory, whereas Owen strips war of glory and shows men dying for nothing
- Both poems show war as glorious and exciting for the soldiers involved
- Both describe the same battle from two different points of view
- Both use a galloping rhythm to make the reader feel the speed of the action
Compare the soldiers
Exam practice. Compare how poets present the experience of soldiers in The Charge of the Light Brigade and in ONE other poem from Power and Conflict. Write at least 150 words.
- A shared point covering both poems
- A short quotation and a named method from each
- The effect of each method
- How the two attitudes differ
- Context only where it explains
Survive the charge
Five questions from the whole module. You have three lives.