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:
There'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
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.
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 wondered:
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
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed 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 wondered.
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?” why not because you would get punished or you would get more things to do
- What is a brigade?it is
- “Theirs not to make reply/Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die” - What did this mean for the soldiers?
- What makes this a narrative poem?
Read the poem again and answer these questions about the language used:
LI: To explore the language of a narrative poem
Stanza 1:
- What does the Valley of Death mean?it is somewhere is really creepy
- Who is “he” in line 6?charge of guns
- What is the six hundred referring to?the six hundred men and six hundred houses
Stanza 2:
- Now that you see it in context, what does the line, “Theirs but to do and die” mean? it is meant to be tragic
Stanza 3:
- What weapons are used against the Light Brigade? guns and commons
- What two things are personified here? daws of death and mouth of hell
Stanza 6:
- Did the Light Brigade win or lose? win
- Are they seen as heroes?no
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?
- What weapons did they carry?saber(sword)
- What weapons did they face?cannons and guns
- Why did the Light Brigade charge?they were told to ordered to but it was a mistake
- How are the members of the Light Brigade survived at the end of the poem? by their honored.
Click on the link on the picture to help you find your information
List 3 facts about the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson
Birth
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.
More poems
Tennyson published Poems in 1832 (23), having benefited from Hallam’s assistance in choosing and negotiating with the publisher, and in proof reading and editing the manuscript. The volume received generally unfavourable 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.
Education
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. In 1831 (22) Tennyson’s father, who had returned home, died.
