preview

The Charge Of The Light Brigade Poem

Decent Essays

Imagine charging into a battle 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 ride 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 lines Tennyson writes in his poem, one is able to realize the significance of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and how these lines add to the glorification of war and honor theme seen throughout the poem. The Light Brigade was a unit of British men who misinterpreted the orders given to them by the commander-in-chief of the British army during the Crimean war. In the result of this misinterpretation, the Light Brigade charged into heavy Russian artillery where they were attacked from three sides (Greenspan). Tennyson describes this scene in his poem when he states, “Cannon to the right of them/Cannon to the left of them/Cannon in front of them,” (Lines 18-20). The British cavalry was slaughtered as they headed down into what is known as “The Valley of Death” (Greenspan). According to the poem, there were six-hundred men who fought in this charge. By stating that they were noble, Tennyson believes these men to be of

Get Access