The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" is an 1854 narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. He was the poet laureate of the United Kingdom at the time of the writing of the poem and the work reflects his compromised ability to express anti-war, populist sentiments while still reflecting his patriotism and remaining in the Crown's favour.

Overview

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 soldiers knew
  Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs 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
  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 turned 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!

—Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson's poem, published December 9, 1854 in The Examiner, praises the Brigade, "When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!", while mourning the appalling futility of the charge: "Not tho' the soldier knew, someone had blunder'd… Charging an army, while all the world wonder'd." According to his grandson Sir Charles Tennyson, Tennyson wrote the poem in only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle in The Times. It immediately became hugely popular, even reaching the troops in the Crimea, where it was distributed in pamphlet form at the behest of Jane, Lady Franklin.

Each stanza tells a different part of the story, and there is a delicate balance between nobility and brutality throughout. Although Tennyson's subject is the nobleness of supporting one's country, and the poem's tone and hoofbeat cadences are rousing, it pulls no punches about the horror of war: "cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them, volley'd and thunder'd". With "into the valley of Death" Tennyson works in resonance with "the valley of the shadow of Death" from Psalm 23; then and now, it is often read at funerals. Tennyson's Crimea does not offer the abstract tranquil death of the psalm but is instead predatory and menacing: "into the jaws of Death" and "into the mouth of Hell". The alliterative "Storm'd at with shot and shell" echoes the whistling of ball as the cavalry charge through it. After the fury of the charge, the final notes are gentle, reflective and laden with sorrow: "Then they rode back, but not the six hundred".

Tennyson recited this poem onto a wax cylinder in 1890 (see below). Jamie Renell and various volunteers at Librivox have also made recordings of the poem. All of them are available online.

Kipling's postscript

Written some forty years after the appearance of "The Charge of the Light Brigade", in 1891, Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Last of the Light Brigadee" focuses on the terrible hardships faced in old age by veterans of the Crimean War, as exemplified by the cavalry men of the Light Brigade, in attempt to shame the British public into offering financial assistance.

In popular culture

• In Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse, the patriarch, Mr. Ramsay, frequently quotes the poem, specifically the lines "Stormed at with shot and shell" and "Someone had blundered".
• In the film Saving Private Ryan, Corporal Upham quotes the "Ours is not to reason why . . ." line in reference to the search for Private Ryan.
• In the television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air the poem is dramatically read by the butler, Geoffrey Butler.
• The sixth season episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, entitled "Sacrifice of Angels", featured two main characters, Chief O'Brien and Dr. Bashir, reciting the third stanza before going into a battle against The Dominion.
• The cult British comedy radio panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue featured the poem sung to the tune of the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.
• In the show, Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore didn't write a speech for her stepping down as editor of the Yale Daily News, and jokingly offers to recite this poem.
• The Iron Maiden song "The Trooper" from their 1983 album Piece of Mind is inspired by and based on Tennyson's poem. Sometimes, before playing the song live, Bruce Dickinson will read parts of the poem as an introduction. Parts of the poem can also be read in the videoclip. The poem was later referenced by Iron Maiden again in the song "Paschendale" from their 2003 album Dance of Death.
• Thin Lizzy also covered the topic, in 'Massacre' (on the Johnny the Fox album). Phrases like 'Six hundred of those heroes...' and 'Through the Devil's Canyon...' make it quite clear that the song refers to the Charge of the Light Brigade.
• Industrial rock band KMFDM uses the poem in their song "Professional Killer", where it is quoted several times.
• In the episode "Station Sale" (S2E11) of NBC television sitcom NewsRadio, Bill McNeal (played by Phil Hartman) paraphrases the line "Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die," incorrectly attributing it to John Keats. The date he gives, 1776, is 19 years before Keats was born and 76 years before the poem was published.
• In a scene in the film Magic Town, Rip (James Stewart) recites the poem, while Mary (Jane Wyman) simultaneously recites Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha", as the two of them sit in an empty classroom.
• In the M*A*S*H episode "Welcome to Korea", Hawkeye tells B.J. (referring to the wounded they're treating), "Ours not to reason why, ours not to let 'em die."
• In the 1936 Our Gang (Little Rascals) short film Two Too Young, Alfalfa recites the poem in front of his class, while Porky focuses light with a magnifying glass on the fuse of firecrackers Alfalfa had stolen and put in his pants pocket. They ignite in rhythmic meter following the line "Cannon to the right of them..."
• "The Light Brigade" is an episode of The Outer Limits (season 2, episode 18). Parts of the poem are recited in a story about a crew on a suicide mission, attempting to destroy an alien enemy home world. It is available for viewing at http://www.hulu.com/watch/6340/outer-limits-the-light-brigade#x-0,vepisode,1
• In the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman (telling the true story of two boyhood friends in the US who conspired to spy for the Soviet Union), Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) is shown in conflict with his father, who demands that he recite the poem as he used to do as a boy; Boyce claims he doesn't remember it, but later angrily spits out the words, suggesting he has abandoned the idealized patriotism he was raised into.
• The 1912 silent film The Charge of the Light Brigade uses the text of the poem to accompany the battle scenes.
• The poem has inspired the folk punk group New Model Army to the song The Charge on the album The Ghost of Cain.
• In the popular game Mass Effect(2007), a reference is made to the poem by the main character in a conversation with Ashley Williams, a supporting character.
• In the 2002 Television miniseries Trudeau, Pierre Elliott Trudeau says "Cannon to the left of us, cannon to the right of us" to which Duncan adds "Stuck in the middle with you". When questioned by Trudeau, Duncan says "Stealer's wheel, it's a song." Trudeau replies, "The Charge of the light brigade, it's a poem."

See also

• Alfred Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.
• Rudyard Kipling's poem The Last of the Light Brigade.

External links

• Reely's Poetry Pages audio reading by actor Jamie Renell with background music
• Manuscript in Tennyson's handwriting Archive.org Link
• "The Charge of the Light Brigade" poem