“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Introduction

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“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Summary

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Themes

• 

  Bravery, Duty, and Sacrifice

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

• Lines 1-4

  Half a league, half a league,
  Half a league onward,
  All in the valley of Death
     Rode the six hundred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  “Forward, the Light Brigade!
  Charge for the guns!” he said.
  Into the valley of Death
     Rode the six hundred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  “Forward, the Light Brigade!”
  Was there a man dismayed?
  Not though the soldier knew
     Someone had blundered.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-17

     Theirs not to make reply,
     Theirs not to reason why,
     Theirs but to do and die.
     Into the valley of Death
     Rode the six hundred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-21

  Cannon to right of them,
  Cannon to left of them,
  Cannon in front of them
     Volleyed and thundered;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 22-26

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 27-31

  Flashed all their sabres bare,
  Flashed as they turned in air
  Sabring the gunners there,
  Charging an army, while
     All the world wondered.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 31-36

     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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-38

  Then they rode back, but not
     Not the six hundred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 39-42

  Cannon to right of them,
  Cannon to left of them,
  Cannon behind them
     Volleyed and thundered;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 43-49

  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 six hundred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 50-55

  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!

  

  

  

  

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“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Symbols

• 

  Jaws of Death

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“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• League
• Light Brigade
• Dismayed
• Blundered
• Volleyed
• Shell
• Flashed
• Sabres
• Plunged
• Battery-smoke
• Cossack
• Reeled
• Sundered

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Speaker

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

More “The Charge of the Light Brigade” Resources

• External Resources

  • Victorian England — A history of Victorian England from the British Library.

  • The Crimean War — A brief history of the Crimean War from Britain's National Archives.

  • The Poem Read Aloud — Colm O'Sullivan recites "The Charge of the Light Brigade"

  • Poem of the Week — A brief essay on "The Charge of the Light Brigade" from Carol Rumens at The Guardian.

  • New Light on the Light Brigade — A recent article from the Telegraph Newspaper on newly uncovered information about the history of the Light Brigade's fateful charge.

  • Tennyson's Life Story — A detailed biography of the author of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" from the Poetry Foundation. 

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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  • The Brook

  • The Eagle

  • The Kraken

  • The Lady of Shalott

  • Tithonus

  • Ulysses