Written 1854
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:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & 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 & 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 & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & 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 & 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!
Today, I would like to share about this poem, which has remained embedded in my mind after reading it. I would firstly give a slight analysis of the poem, followed by my feelings and finally, what I have learnt from this poem.
Now I shall give a short analysis about the poem. The Charge of the Light Brigade basically talks of 600 soldiers in the light brigade, who have been ordered to charge to attack their enemies who are half a league away, in the valley of Death. However, the enemies have already setup an ambush for them. Despite knowing this, an order to charge was given, but it was a mistake made by the messenger. However, the soldiers charged on bravely, despite knowing that there was a mistake which was made. On their way to reach their enemies, they were ambushed in a sense, whereby their enemies fired cannons at them from the sides. In the end, they managed to reach their enemies, and the soldiers used their sword to kill their enemies, who are the Cossack and Russians. After that, they rode back, but they were once again attacked by the enemies’ cannons. However, this time, they had lesser than 600 soldiers as some of them had already died in the charge before. In the end, they managed to break out of the valley of Death, but few of them managed to survive. Up till now, people still do honour them, and they feel that they are noble.
Now, I shall talk about my feelings after reading the Charge of The Light Brigade. After reading this poem, I felt that the soldiers are actually very courageous, due to the fact that despite knowing that an ambush was set up, they still charged ahead. To some, they may seem reckless or stupid, but to me they seem courageous. This is so, as they knew that they could not defy the order of the commander, but yet instead of running away, they charged ahead. I also feel very sad for the soldiers, due to the fact that, despite being so courageous, they were killed just due to the fact that they were given a wrong order by the messenger.
Lastly, I shall talk about what I have learnt. In the third and fourth sentence of the second stanza, I learnt that due to the mistake of a messenger, the soldiers had to pay the price for it. From this, I have learnt that one should not be too careless in what they do as this would negatively affect others just like the scenario in the poem as well as in the battle. I have also learnt that one should not be too reckless, and also to question if they find something wrong. This is evident from the fourth to the sixth sentence of the second stanza and also the third stanza. If the soldiers had questioned the messenger, they would not have died for nothing. This has also taught me to think first before we act, as this would have a great impact on our actions. From this, I have also learnt to honor soldiers, as they have made lots of sacrifices for us, and we should not take them for granted. The soldiers have scarified their lives in order to aid us, and thus, may have died, which is the main reason why we should always honor them. I have learnt this from the last stanza of this poem.
If you have read this post, and felt that there is room for improvement, please do comment. (:
~Gordon (:
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