The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” written by Alfred Tennyson is a mélange of diverse elements. At heart, it is a free verse epic designed to memorialize the bravery of the six hundred men who readily rode “into the valley of Death” under the aegis of patriotism. Tennyson uses this poem not glorify the battle itself but, rather the soldiers who were an epitome of obedience and valor in spite of the blunders made by their superiors.
In the first stanza, Tennyson, with his apt use of repetition and language, is able to offer the reader a ringside seat to the action on the battlefield as the “Light Brigade” is ordered to charge into enemy lines in the pursuit of guns. He quickly engages the reader by opening with: "HALF a league,
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They are not well equipped, yet they continue to fight. It is this due to demonstration of valiance that “All the world wonder’d”. The ambiguity in what exactly the people were perplexed about-- were they perplexed by the soldiers’ bravery or by the fact that they were consciously sent to fight a losing battle, gives the reader the freedom to use their imagination to explore the plethora of emotions felt by the people back home at the time of this battle. The theme of inescapability and inescapabilty are further established in the following line through strong diction: “Plunged in the battery-smoke”. The word “plunged” has connotations of helplessness, allowing the reader to imagine the utter desperation experienced by the soldier as he is consumed by smoke. The sheer horror of this image allows the reader to appreciate the soldier’s bravery in such horrible times. It is due to this valor that the soldiers seem to emerge victorious as suggested by the lines: “Reel’d from the sabre-stroke/ Shatter’d and sunder’d.” However, the victory is not as joyous as the reader would like to believe—“ They rode back, but not/ Not the six hundred.” The repetition of not is used to ensure that the reader is painfully aware of the fact that not everyone survived. Only the lucky few were able ride back, unscathed, from the “valley of
War can be considered a tragedy, but war can also signify bravery. So many men and women die fighting for their country daily. What really happens behind enemy lines? In “The Things They Carried,” a short story by Tim O’Brien, he uses various rhetorical devices to explain to his readers to help them truly understand what it is like to be in war.
Through “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” the soldiers standing, watching as everything goes on around them, are not able to stop what is happening. The soldiers represent the unforgiving nature of war.
The poems convey a valid belligerent meaning of what war is and what it can do to an individual. “Facing It” reflects on the aftermath of war. The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” reveals what war was like in the soldier’s eyes and how war should be handled by any fighting side. The author, Komunyakaa, uses rhetorical devices: imagery, diction, and similes to explain the flashbacks he sees as he conveys his meaning. The author’s flashbacks emphasizes the benevolent and belligerent effects of war, “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke.
In the poem Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred Lord Tennyson tells the story of a light brigade consisting of 600 soldiers charging on horseback into the “valley of death” during the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War in 1953-56 where they fought against Russian and Cossack forces. The poem tells of the journey that soldiers take through battle. Tennyson uses repetition, personification, and diction to make this poem flow.
Imagine going to fight in a war where the odds of winning are close to none. Now imagine charging forward where the enemy is attacking from three sides. This was the reality for a certain British Brigade during the Crimean War in 1854. In his 1854 poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Lord Tennyson describes the Battle of Balaclava where the British march into their untimely death. Tennyson ends the poem with a significant few lines that read, “Honor the charge they made/Honor the light Brigade/Noble six hundred.” (Lines 53-55). By looking at the last sentences Tennyson writes in his poem, one is able to realize the significance of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and how those lines add to the glorification of war and honor theme seen throughout the poem.
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson was written as an ode to the members of the British Light Cavalry who showed tremendous bravery at the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. The soldiers were faced with death due to blunders made by British generals. People from around the world speculated about the incentive that motivated the soldiers to risk their lives. Tennyson, unlike the rest of the world, did not hesitate to determine the soldiers reasoning. He believed the soldiers were obeying orders and upholding their military duties with dignity and pride. Unlike many who viewed this as a vacuous act, Tennyson found the soldiers’ ride to their deaths heroic and symbolic. Inspired by this act of selflessness and
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson "The charge of the light brigade" by Tennyson was written about a
War is a scandalous topic where peoples’ views differ as to what war is. Some people see it as pure evil and wicked while others think that it is brave and noble of what soldiers do. Looking at poems which had been written by people affected by war help show the messages which are portrayed. The two sets of poems which show different views of war as well as some similarities are “the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “The Song of the Mud” by Mary Borden. Both these poets use linguistic devices to convince the reader of their view of what the war is. Tennyson and Lovelace show how war is worthy
In the poems ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson and ‘Exposure’ by Wilfried Owen, both poets incorporate ideas of patriotism to convey a message about the futility of war. This is revealed in many similar and different ways:
Alfred Tennyson wrote the “Charge of the Light Brigade” in 1854 and it is about the battle of Balaclava in the Crimean war. Although this battle had no real influence on the outcome of the war it showed the bravery of six hundred British soldiers who charged into almost certain death. The poem itself is a patriotic ballad keeping up with the tradition of the time. The poem is heroic and romantic.
Poets frequently utilize vivid images to further depict the overall meaning of their works. The imagery in “& the War Was in Its Infancy Then,” by Maurice Emerson Decaul, conveys mental images in the reader’s mind that shows the physical damage of war with the addition of the emotional effect it has on a person. The reader can conclude the speaker is a soldier because the poem is written from a soldier’s point of view, someone who had to have been a first hand witness. The poem is about a man who is emotionally damaged due to war and has had to learn to cope with his surroundings. By use of imagery the reader gets a deeper sense of how the man felt during the war. Through the use of imagery, tone, and deeper meaning, Decaul shows us the
The themes of the two poems are portrayed in very distinctive ways. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ explains in a majestic approach, that fighting in war is something every soldier should honour. The poem is
The first verse of Charge Of The Light Brigade portrays the soldiers as strong, willing, noble men; ready to ride into “the valley of Death” whereas Dulce Et Decorum Est portrays the soldiers as struggling, exhausted and fatigued. Alfred Lord Tennyson illustrates the same idea of honour and nobility throughout his poem in contrast to Wilfred Owen’s poem which discusses fear and sorrow amongst other emotions.
The men in the poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” was foolish and here’s why.