1. The Charge of the Light Brigade

2. What can we see in this picture?

3. Context The Crimean War 1854-1856 Britain and France against Russia
Began after the Turkish Empire collapsed and Russia wanted to extend power south. Allies landed in Crimea and took control of Sebastopol.
War in Crimea, southern Russia.
British cavalry (men on horseback) called the Light Brigade

4. Heroic and Stupid Charge of the Light Brigade
The British cavalry commander mistook his orders to retake some guns held by the Russians. Instead he told his men to charge the main Russian position, which was at the head of a valley bristling with artillery. The 600 horsemen obeyed but two thirds were killed or wounded. The Charge is the best known example of heroism and stupidity of war.

5. Poem based on newspaper report
Journalist W.H.Russell reported on the Charge in The Times:
At the minutes past eleven our Light Cavalry Brigade advanced…They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war…At the distance of 1200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth, from thirty iron mouths, a flood of smoke and flame. The flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horse, by steeds flying and wounded or rider less across the plain…They flew into the smoke of the batteries; but before they were lost from view the plain was strewn with their bodies. Through the clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing as they rode between the guns, cutting down the gunners as they stood… The flank fire of the batteries on the hill swept them down…at thirty five minutes past eleven not a British soldier, except the dead and the dying, was left in front of the Russian guns.

6. Rhythm
There is a regular fast-paced rhythm to the poem created by:
Regular number of syllables in the lines (5-7);
End rhymes
Repetition of line structures and words
Repetition of variation of last line.
What is the rhythm of the poem imitating and what is the effect of this?

7. Order and Obey
‘Forward the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
The commander had made a disastrous mistake. Why didn’t the men question the order to charge at the Russian guns?

8. Sounds of war Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging the army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

9. Sounds of war Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them,
The repetition of the word ‘cannon’ with its short syllable sounds explosive
The monosyllabic words after ‘cannon’ sound like a fast-paced, relentless bombardment of shells
Sounds of war
The drawn out vowel sound of the onomatopoeic word ‘plunged’ help us to imagine the utter despair of the men as if consumed by smoke
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging the army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
The repetition of the onomatopoeic word ‘flashed’ with its quick sounding vowel sound gives us a sense of the speed of the attack and of death
Throughout these stanzas there is assonance of the harsh short vowel sounds, ‘o’,’u’ and ‘a’ (as in ‘plunged’ and ‘wondered’, ‘Cossack’ and ‘volleyed’ and ‘cannon’ and ‘flashed’). The harsh landscape of war is evoked by these aggressive sounds.
The onomatopoeic words ‘volleyed’, ‘thundered’ and ‘stormed’ all have high energy and evoke the sounds of anger, of aggression, of war
The onomatopoeic word ‘shattered’ helps us to imagine the men and valley as broken

10. Imagery
‘Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.’
‘Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.’
How does Tennyson use metaphor and personification to capture the horror of the Charge?

11. Tennyson metaphorically describes the place of battle as the ‘valley of Death.’ This is a powerful image as it suggests that death is all around the men and that they cannot escape it. The Russian gunmen were at the head of the valley looking down from a strong vantage point at the cavalry; the British had little hope of victory. The valley is defined forever by the fallen men; it now belongs to Death.
Imagery
‘Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.’
‘Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.’
How does Tennyson use metaphor and personification to capture the horror of the Charge?
Tennyson personifies Death and Hell. The ‘jaws of Death’ evokes a powerful image of inescapability – the men have been gripped by something savage and Death will not release its hold over the men. The ‘mouth of Hell’ also conjures an image of sheer horror. It is as if the earth has opened up to consume the men – they will die terribly. The men’s lives have been snatched from them suddenly and violently.

12. Pride, splendour, glamour
W.H. Russell
They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war…with a halo of steel above their heads, and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow’s death cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries…breaking through a column of Russians and scattering them like chaff
Tennyson
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back but not
Not the six hundred.
Stormed at with shot and shell
While horse and hero fell
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of the six hundred.

13. Tennyson’s voice – stanza six
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
What does Tennyson think of the soldiers? What do you think that he felt about the Charge?