Directions: Paraphrase each stanza, putting each one in your own words.

Before reading:
• Number the lines
• Label the rhyme scheme
• Note meaningful punctuation
• Make a prediction based on the title
About the Text: During the Crimean War, British cavalry,
soldiers who carried lances and sabers and rode unarmored
horses, were mistakenly sent into the Battle of Balaklava on
October 25, 1854. While the Light Brigade was best suited for
reconnaissance and quick skirmishes, this battle set them
against a heavy artillery battery. With such uneven odds, the
British force eventually retreated without making any gains.
The Light Brigade suffered significant losses: 110 men died,
and 161 were wounded or taken prisoner. Alfred, Lord
Tennyson published his poem six weeks later.

I
1 Half a league, half a league,
2 Half a league onward, 600 soldiers, 600 soldiers, 600 forward, all in to their death
3 All in the valley of Death went the 600 hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade!
4 Rode the six hundred. Charge the guns!” he said. The 600 rode to their death.
5 “Forward, the Light Brigade!
6 Charge for the guns!” he said.
7 Into the valley of Death
8 Rode the six hundred.

II
10 “Forward, the Light Brigade!”
11 Was there a man dismayed? “Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man surprised?
12 Not though the soldier knew No the soldier new someone had made a mistake. It’s not
13 Someone had blundered. their job to respond, Not their job to ask why, but it is to
14 Theirs not to make reply, act and die. The 600 rode to their death.
15 Theirs not to reason why,
16 Theirs but to do and die.
17 Into the valley of Death
18 Rode the six hundred.

III
19 Cannon to right of them, Cannon on the right, cannon on the left, cannon in the front
20 Cannon to left of them, fast and loud; Under cannon and gun fire, they boldly rode
21 Cannon in front of them into the jaws of death, the mouth of hell, went the 600.
22 Volleyed and thundered;
23 Stormed at with shot and shell,
24 Boldly they rode and well,
25 Into the jaws of Death,
26 Into the mouth of hell
27 Rode the six hundred.
Directions: Paraphrase each stanza, putting each one in your own words.
IV
28 Flashed all their sabres bare,
29 Flashed as they turned in air All there swords are out, they turn cutting down the
30 Sabring the gunners there, gunners, charging the army, while the world was in awe.
31 Charging an army, while Surrounded by smoke they broke through the line. The
32 All the world wondered. Cossacks and Russians ran from the swinging swords
33 Plunged in the battery-smoke broken and split. Not all 600 returned.
34 Right through the line they broke;
35 Cossack1 and Russian
36 Reeled from the sabre stroke
37 Shattered and sundered.
38 Then they rode back, but not
39 Not the six hundred.
Cannon on the right, cannon on the left, cannon in the front
40 fast and loud; fast and loud. Under cannon and gun fire,
V while soldier and horses fell. Those that fought well came
Cannon to right of them, through the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of hell, all
41 Cannon to left of them, that was left, left of 600.
42 Cannon behind them
43 Volleyed and thundered;
44 Stormed at with shot and shell,
45 While horse and hero fell.
46 They that had fought so well
47 Came through the jaws of Death,
48 Back from the mouth of hell, When will their glory fade? The wild chard they made! All
49 All that was left of them, the world in awe. Honor the fight they put up! Honor the
50 Left of six hundred. 600, noble Light Brigade.
51
52 VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
53 All the world wondered.
54 Honour the charge they made!
55 Honour the Light Brigade,
56 Noble six hundred!
57 After Reading
58 Based on your paraphrase, list 3 themes from the text.

1️⃣ war is nothing but death.

2️⃣ mistakes can cause tragedy

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1
Cossacks: an East Slavic-speaking 3️⃣ war is glorified death
people who aided the Russians during
the Crimean War
Directions: Find each figurative device in the poem and describe how each is used.

Where does the figurative device

What purpose does the figurative
Figurative Device appear in the poem? Write the
language serve?
lines.
Stanzas 3 and 5 are almost a To show that fighting is
repeat. Lines 1 and 2. continuous and often repetitive.
Repetition

14-16 To emphasize their role as a

soldier
Parallelism

38 Make it easier to remember and

connect the terms.
Alliteration

25 and 26 Give it more importance.

Personification

11 and 53 It make you think about a point

the author wants to make.
Rhetorical Question

Analyzing Figurative Language: Choose one or more of the figurative devices above and describe
how Tennyson uses it to support his main idea or purpose for writing.
 Directions
Although he is associated with the Victorian Era, Alfred, Lord Tennyson was influenced by earlier
literary movements, especially the Romantic Era. Read the description of each literary period below.
Then, use your reading of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” to describe how Tennyson’s writing
reflects each literary period.

Romantic Era Victorian Era

Romantic writers preferred emotion,
imagination, and intuition to logic and reason.
Romantics celebrated Nature and the triumph of
the individual spirit. At the intersections of these
desires and interests, writers sought the sublime
or a moment of transcendence. In the pursuit of
the sublime, Romantic writers often featured
lone heroic figures. To give expression to their
emotions, Romantic poets often favored the
lyric, ode, or sonnet.
Written during the reign of Queen Victoria
(1837-1901), Victorian literature occurred in an
era of great social reform and technological
advancement. Such significant changes exposed
tremendous social inequality, so it is not
surprising that many Victorian writers expressed
alienation, isolation, and a sense of
powerlessness. Perhaps because of the ongoing
upheaval, Victorian literature drew inspiration
from the classical past even while Victorian
poets experimented with form and style.

While Tennyson was influenced by Romantic How does “The Charge of the Light Brigade”
writers, he is not a Romantic. How does “The reflect characteristics of the Victorian Era?
Charge of the Light Brigade” demonstrate that The story reflects a sense of powerlessness when
Tennyson was not a Romantic writer? the soldiers are surrounded by cannons.
Romantic writers focus on nature and
individualism neither which are in “The Charge
of the Light Brigade”. This poem focus on a
group and the ugly and dangerous side of man.
Directions: Consider The painting The Cavalry Charge at Balaklava, Oct.25th 1854 by Edward Morin alongside the
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Then, answer the questions about the relationship
between the image and text.

1. What is the mood of the painting? How does 3. How is the artist’s purpose similar to or
the artist create the mood? different from the poet’s purpose?
The painting feels very chaotic. There is so The purpose is to show that war is messy and
much going on. full of death.

2. How is the mood of the painting similar to
the mood of the poem?
The poem talks about war and how chaotic it
is.
4. What is the poem able to convey that the
image is not and vice versa? What are the
strengths and limitations of each medium? The
poem is able to show the beginning, middle,
and end of the battle and express more than one
science with lots of emotion. The painting
actually give us the visual of the soldiers them
self as well as the weapons used.