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The Charge Of The Light Brigade


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,
Their's not to reason why, 
Their's 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!

Notes

At the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 during the Crimean War, the Light Brigade, consisting of British cavalry regiments, charged down a narrow valley against Russian Troops who had captured some British guns. There were Russian troops who had captured some British guns. The Russians were at the end of the valley as well as on each side of it. The attack should never have been made, for it had no chance of success: It was due to a blunder brought on by misunderstanding an order sent by the commander-in-chief.
The obedience and courage of the soldiers, of whom less than a third survived won great fame for the Light Brigade.

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Comments

1 - 12 of 12

  • November 28, 2009
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    great poem

    From guest lola (contact)
    Im doing this for declamations this is a great poem mostly though I like edgar allan poe for declamations


  • November 23, 2009
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    From guest dave (contact)
    re-lived in the movie The Blind Side when Tim McGraw so eloquently portrayed the battle of so long ago.


  • November 1, 2009
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    I found a book

    From guest Charli (contact)
    I found a book in a junk shop, its an 1860's print of tennysons poems, its really roughed up, and has no spine, but it has both covers and all the pages, can anyone tell me what this is worth and if i should rebind it?
    Please email me my addy is aegisdork@ymail.com

    There isn't any way we could possibly do this.
    Suggest you find someone who can value it for you and take their advice with what to do to preserve this treasure.

    Von - Oldpoetry Team


  • January 16, 2009
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    fact

    From guest clare morey (contact)
    my great great great great granfather was 1 of the survin, and got the red cross, his burried in sawbridgeworth, and has a place in the church its self! given by queen mary. alfred vick was 1 of the brave 600


  • I-Like-Rhymes Moderators member
    October 7, 2008
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    This poem does indeed "Honour the Light Brigade,
    Noble six hundred" as Tennyson intended but it also gives us an amazingly good piece of poetry to read aloud. The stirring rhythms of its opening stanzas gradually slowing to the melancholy march of its closing lines.
    Marvellous stuff.

  • Reece Magic
    September 11, 2008

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    Ah, noble men, the each of them. That was a time long ago. You have the Crimean War, 1854, then onward to the Civil War in 1861 where there, many too did this, and died. Then we had the newer times, but the last of noble men like these, world war II. Though there are some today, like these, they only come in handfuls now. But they too, help us remember the old, the heroes of old, that would charge a fortified position, regardless of loss.

    "You are heroes. Heroism is latent in every soul. That transcendence of self, has immortalized you."

    "In great deeds, something abides, on great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass, bodies disappear, but spirits linger. This is the great reward of service, to gives life best for such high sake, that shall be found again, unto life eternal."

    Union Major General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

  • poet007
    October 10, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    the old ways seem lost yet in times of war
    men remember your fellow man is your brother.

    This poem reflects the nobility which seems
    lost in todays world.


  • Von Powell Moderators member
    September 17, 2006
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    Kiplings response

    http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/7622
    a poem: 'The Last of the Light Brigade' written in response to his poem

  • silvertom
    September 16, 2006
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    awsome story

    can anyone tell me of a book that gives the history of the war that this battle takes place in ? I would love to read about the causes that lead these brave and valiant warriors into the valley of death. Has anyone asked themselves if they could do the same in todays world?


    • I-Like-Rhymes Moderators member
      September 18, 2006
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      This disasterous episode was part of the Crimean War and details can be found here http://www.crimeanwar.org/.
      The military blunders based on misunderstood or flawed "military information" not only can happen today they actually do although maybe not as spectaculatly as this.


    • Von Powell Moderators member
      September 17, 2006
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      silvertom

      http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html

      try here for information
      also
      The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade by Cecil Woodham-Smith (Paperback - Jul 1, 1991)
      Across the bottom links you will see one for 'Amazon' where you can search for reference books.

  • raidy666
    May 21, 2006
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    I love the repartition of the poem and the effect it has. Overall, its a great poem but sadly we had to analyse it in Eng.Lit and it ruined the whole poem for me.

  • Loren
    January 23, 2006
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    I love this poem, we studied it in English recently. I have aleays loved Tennyson especially in his most political of times. This poem is so sombre but beautiful at the same time. It is beautifully haunting.
    It has some wonderful imagery and some amazing metaphors in there.


  • April 25, 2004
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    With all we are learning about the lead up to Iraq, the second verse is haunting. Change the 600 to, 700 and counting.


  • February 5, 2004
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    Super-dooper!

    I love this poem,just the flow of the words and the absolute beauty of it.I sit at home every night and read it to myself sometimes 3 times over,it's almost like my Lord's prayer. I wish I'd been alive when Alfred had, I'm sure we would have been the best of friends.


  • August 11, 2003
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    Of the 600 men of the light brigade only 147 returned from the charge. The finest cavalry brigade in Europe, destroyed in one bloody day. I love this because it is a tribute to the courage of soldiers, beyond the stupidity of officers or the futility of war. It just tells the story of brave and good men doing their duty for their God, for their Queen and for their Country. may the bugle never be silenced, may the rallying cry be ever heard and may their sacrifice never die.

  • FallenAngel09
    July 23, 2003
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    I absolutely love this poem, but its so sad at the end. The flow is great, and so is the repitition. It repeated words without sounding mundane or stupid, which i find very very very very good. This is, also, one of my favorite poems, I have even written it down somewhere in one of my journals, so that if i wanted to read it again it will just be write there for me. Any way good poem and i hope to read some more like this, as i have with O Captain! My Captain! also a spectacular poem. They both have something in common if you didn't notice, they are both about a time during a war. O Captain My Captain is just about the after effects of a war, and The Charge of the Light Brigade is about a battle that wasn't even supposed to happen. Again i loved this poem.
    Tiphanie

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