AQA Anthology, GCSE English Literature, Moon on the Tides, Conflict.

1. The Charge of the Light
Brigade
Alfred Tennyson

2. The Charge of the Light Brigade was a
disastrous charge of British cavalry led
by Lord Cardigan against Russian
forces during the Battle of Balaclava on
25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.

3. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s was Poet Laureate at the time.
His lines have made the charge a symbol of warfare at both its most
courageous and its most tragic.

4. Lord Cardigan led the charge from the front and, never
looking back, did not see what was happening to the troops
behind him.
He reached the Russian guns, took part in the fight and then
returned alone up the valley without bothering to rally or even
find out what had happened to the survivors.
600 horsemen followed orders to attack the Russians.
Two thirds of them were killed or injured.
The Russians were so surprised by the rashness, they
thought the British were drunk!
Cardigan left the field and went on board his yacht in
Balaclava harbour, where he ate a champagne dinner!

5. News of the Charge reached England three weeks later.
War correspondent William Russell, who witnessed the
battle, declared "our Light Brigade was annihilated by their
own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy

7. Tennyson's poem, published on 9 December 1854 in The
Examiner, praises the Brigade, "When can their glory fade? O
the wild charge they made!", while trenchantly mourning the
appalling futility of the charge: "Not tho' the soldier knew,
someone had blunder'd… Charging an army, while all the
world wonder'd.”
Tennyson wrote the poem inside only a few minutes after
reading an account of the battle in The Times, according to
his grandson Sir Charles Tennyson.
It immediately became hugely popular, even reaching the
troops in the Crimea, where it was distributed in pamphlet
form.
Forty years later Kipling wrote The Last of the Light Brigade,
commemorating the visit of the last twenty survivors to
Tennyson (then in his eightieth year) gently to reproach him
for not writing a sequel about the way in which England was

8. I
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All
valley of Death Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Lig
Brigade! "Charge for the guns!" he said: Into the valley
Death Rode the six hundred.
Thundering
rhythm
throughout the
poem, echoes
horses’ hooves.
3 miles is a league, so half a
league would not be very far
on a galloping horse.
“Valley of Death” refers to an episode
of John Bunyon’s Pilgrim’s Progress
and to Psalm 23 from the New
Testament of the Bible: in both of
these sources, faith makes people
brave when they are faced with
death.
Doesn’t say who ‘he’ is, or why.
Highlights the blind obedience
soldiers follow in war. In reality it
was a command that was
misunderstood.
Charging into
guns, obviously
very dangerous,
they knew they
were heading
into danger
Valley of Death, repeated.
The audience of the time
would all have known the
outcome of the battle, that
only around 100 escaped
unscathed.

9. II
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 re
why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Dea
the six hundred.’
Repetition of
shouted order, the
men are not afraid
though,
accentuates their
bravery.
However, all the soldiers
knew that a mistake had
been made, but they still
followed orders. Incredible
for a civilian to understand
this loyalty.
Regimented style reflects
the soldiers devotion to
duty & militarism. They
realise they are heading
towards death but
continue to follow orders.
We are privy to their
thoughts.
Perspective shifts once
more & we see the wider
picture, more repetition of
Valley of Death.

10. III
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.
Repeated 3 times,
speech writers always
repeat 3 times, far more
effective. Gives an idea
of the layout of the
battlefield, soldiers are
surrounded.
Barrage is like a
force of nature, so
massive, nothing
men can do
anything about.
Extended metaphor of Valley of
Death. They death is not
glorious, but hell, vicious war
claiming its victims.
Nobility of
soldiers, they
continue to ride
‘well’ even as its
towards their
deaths.

11. IV
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 Righ
thro' the line they broke; Cossack and
Russian Reel'd from the sabre stroke Shatte
and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not N
the six hundred.
Initially they are
successful & the
Russians retreat under
the Cavalry’s attack
with swords rather than
guns.
What is the world
wondering? How they
can be so brave in the
face of such a mighty
force? That perhaps
they may win the
battle?
Repetition of ‘not’. Their
bravery is resolute, they will
not retreat. Bold & brave &
determined.

12. V
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 th
mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of
six hundred.
Now the cannons are
behind them, the slight
victory hasn’t improved
their situation, the stormof
war is not relenting
Anthropologists have
observed that going
into hell & then
returning is a
common motif in the
mythology of many
of the world’s
cultures, including
one of the best-
known myths of
Western civilization,
the labours of
Hercules. The
survivors of this
battle are thus raised
to heroic status by
the words that this
poem uses to
describe the valley’s
entrance.

13. VI
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.
We are addressed
directly & asked to
answer a question.
But its beyond our
comprehension.
Repetition again,
we wonder how
they can have
obeyed
obviously flawed
orders.
We are told how to
feel about them,
remember context,
Poet laureate,
patriotic, writing for
mass audience, many
of whom would have
been uneducated.
Celebrate their
honour. A tribute to
their bravery
Little outright criticism of
leaders, upholding
establishment & call to
glory of soldiers & of doing
ones’ duty’ without
question.