Alfred Lord Tennyson
LI: to understand the story behind this narrative poem
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
There's not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
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.
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
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
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 the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade ?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
At the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 during the Crimean War, the ‘Light Brigade’, (a group of British soldiers), charged down a narrow valley to fight the Russian soldiers who had captured British guns. The Russians were at the end of the valley as well as on each side of it. The attack was not a wise choice and happened because of a misunderstanding of an order sent by the commander-in-chief. After following orders less than a third of these men survived.
Answer these questions in full sentences:
- “If you were in the military and you were given an order, would you obey it – even if it meant putting your life on the line? Why or why not?” Yes we have to listen and we would have to fight.
- What is a brigade? Military elements.
- “Theirs not to make reply/Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die” - What did this mean for the soldiers? Her not allowed to answer back.
- What makes this a narrative poem? Its like a story instead of a poem.
Read the poem again and answer these questions about the language used:
LI: To explore the langu
age of a narrative poem
Stanza 1:
- What does the Valley of Death mean? Because most of the people died.
- Who is “he” in line 6? commanda
- What is the six hundred referring to? 600 soldiers
Stanza 2:
- Now that you see it in context, what does the line, “Theirs but to do and die” mean? They killed their own selves.
Stanza 3:
- What weapons are used against the Light Brigade? Guns, Bombs,cannons
- What two things are personified here? Jaws of death / Mouth of hell
Stanza 6:
- Did the Light Brigade win or lose? Lose
- Are they seen as heroes? Yes
Use short answers to answer the following questions.
LI: To show that I am reading for meaning and understanding
- About how many soldiers were in the Light Brigade? 600
- What weapons did they carry? saber) sword
- What weapons did they face? Guns and cannons
- Why did the Light Brigade charge? They were order to but it was a mistake
- How are the members of the Light Brigade survived at the end of the poem? Being honoured.
List 3 facts about the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, the fourth of the twelve children of George Tennyson, clergyman, and his wife, Elizabeth. His father’s father had gone against all tradition in making his younger son, Charles, his principal heir, and arranging for George to enter the ministry.
In 1816 (7) Tennyson was sent to Louth Grammar School, which he disliked so intensely that in later life he refused even to walk past the school. From 1820 (11) he was educated at home, mainly by his father, who introduced him to such works as The Arabian Nights, The Koran and other books of folklore and myth. He joined his brothers, Frederick and Charles, at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1827 (18), and, with his brother Charles, published Poems by Two Brothers in the same year.
Tennyson published Poems in 1832 (23), having benefited from Hallam’s assistance in choosing and negotiating with the publisher, and in proofreading and editing the manuscript. The volume received generally favorable reviews, though Hallam continued to promote it, himself writing a review which appeared in Moxon’s The Englishman’s Magazine together with one of Tennyson’s sonnets.
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